Art Bell will CONTINUE his show on the web.

[Queen]

Art Bell Leaves SiriusXM
November 4, 2013 (10:39 pm) By Spencer Osborne

artbellArt Bell, the radio icon that joined the SiriusXM line-up on September 16th is leaving the air after just a month and a half.  While passionate satellite radio fans may not want to hear it, his reasons for leaving boiled down to three main things:

    SiriusXM’s web player is notoriously unreliable, causing a loss of subscribers and a degraded listening experience for those who remain listening online.
    For a “caller driven” show, the caller pool for art’s show is just too small.
    International listeners have no legitimate way to hear the show.

This is not the first time that we have heard issues relating to the Internet platform offered up by SiriusXM.  There have been a host of issues from the functionality to being booted off, to having longer shows reset from the beginning after an hour and a half, making it almost impossible to listen to a 2 hour show on demand.

When signed by SiriusXM, Bell had only glowing things to say:

    “SiriusXM is the perfect fit for me and my new show Art Bell’s Dark Matter,” said Art Bell. “Though invisible, dark matter accounts for gravitational forces observed in the universeâ€"expect these forces to be at work in the uncensored, unrestricted creative arena of satellite radio, a medium with truly extraterrestrial reach.”

It would appear that after just a short period of time, second thoughts emerged.

The departure of Bell, as unfortunate as it is, should be a signal to SiriusXM.  The company has a compelling product, great content, and great potential, but in some ways has lost the edge that it once had.  The frustrations of Bell can be heard on other channels as well.  Opie & Anthony, Howard Stern, Jay Thomas, and others have all at times expressed a great deal of frustration.  In some ways, the complaints of on air personalities ring back to the old FM days of terrestrial radio, a path that many consumers and on air personalities could not wait to get away from.

Bell is a radio icon, and will continue his show on the web.  It is unfortunate that SiriusXM could not match up to his needs.  Consumers can only hope that SiriusXM takes this issue seriously.  There are indeed issues with the Internet platform as well as sound quality.  Yes, Bell was probably expecting too many callers too quickly and did not give his show time to develop an audience from the pool of those willing to pay for radio, but Bell’s issues should not and can not be ignored.

From an investors perspective, there are not really any silver linings here.  No, the departure of bell will not send the equity crashing, but the implications are not good either.  If a personality such as Bell can not draw an audience with him, what does it say about other content?  If a personality like Bell has a solution on the web that meets his needs better, what does that say about getting more talent to come to satellite and stay?

Whether we as investors like it or not, the sex appeal of satellite radio is not what it used to be.  Satellite radio seems to have lost the leading edge.  No, SiriusXM is not going to fail, but the cache is not what it once was.  The satellite empire is not crumbling, but it is at a point where it may need to “re-invent” itself.

There will be a day when Stern retires.  There may be a day when Opie & Anthony have had enough.  As each year passes it seems that SiriusXM is becoming more like the FM radio we all wanted to tear apart.  Yes, SiriusXM is better, but the options for listeners are increasing and SiriusXM needs to pay attention sooner rather than later.  The company has done so many wonderful things in getting to where it is.  It may be time to up the ante again.

Best of Luck to Art Bell in his ventures.

[jazmunda]

This is just conjecture on the author's part with no evidence to back it up.

[onan]

This is just conjecture on the author's part with no evidence to back it up.

If he wants to pay me to listen, I am interested. Otherwise... move along.

[Queen]

this is the same article that everyone is reading that says he quit. Its just the full article.  As i told MV im just trying to throw some water on a forest fire from the other topic LOL.  It does say he will continue on the web.

[Queen]

I guess i don't have to use Pirate Bay anymore.

[DanTSX]

Bullshit.

Fool me once....

[Scruff]

Bullshit.

Fool me once....

. . . shame on . . . shame on you . . . fool me can't get fooled again!

[Araxen]

SiriusXM has a non-compete and he signed a 3-year deal so I"m sure they will hold him to that deal. He isn't coming back anytime soon.

[Foodlion]

SiriusXM has a non-compete and he signed a 3-year deal so I"m sure they will hold him to that deal. He isn't coming back anytime soon.

Unless they are still paying Art, the contract is void.

[EarthAlien007]

Unless they are still paying Art, the contract is void.

Yes. This is a mutual agreement to end their relationship.

[shell88]

Spencer Osborn has no contact info. He's got a financial website that you have to join to contact people there. I do not have the patience to do this right now, but maybe someone else would like to go on a mission and see what he knows about Art returning to the web???

[bmcintyre]

I am so thoroughly bummed out about Art.  I really enjoyed his show. 

[rangerdavid]

Unless they are still paying Art, the contract is void.

they could sue Art for breach of contract. 

[tweet75]

streaming the show for free live on artbell.com and charge $5 a month for anytime listening access and provide a smartphone app that would help cover bandwidth costs.

[ksm32]

streaming the show for free live on artbell.com and charge $5 a month for anytime listening access and provide a smartphone app that would help cover bandwidth costs.

That would be good.

[Eddie Coyle]

streaming the show for free live on artbell.com and charge $5 a month for anytime listening access and provide a smartphone app that would help cover bandwidth costs.

      Until he quits.

[heater]

      Until he quits.

lol

[bloodmark]

Unless they are still paying Art, the contract is void.

That's not how non-compete clauses work. They basically state that if you quit the show you are hired to do, you agree that you cannot legally do a similar show for someone else until the period of time stipulated in the contract expires. It's a way for the employer guarantee that the employee can't just decide to quit one day and then create a competing show for someone else a week later. The employee either fulfills their contractual obligation, or if they decide to quit, they agree to sit on the sidelines until the contract they signed would have expired. The employer doesn't need to keep paying the employee for a non-compete clause to remain in effect. The only way it's no longer in effect is if the employer decides to release the employee from their contract. In this case, Art quit the job he was hired to do. He wasn't fired/released.

[Up All Night]

That's not how non-compete clauses work. They basically state that if you quit the show you are hired to do, you agree that you cannot legally do a similar show for someone else until the period of time stipulated in the contract expires. It's a way for the employer guarantee that the employee can't just decide to quit one day and then create a competing show for someone else a week later. The employee either fulfills their contractual obligation, or if they decide to quit, they agree to sit on the sidelines until the contract they signed would have expired. The employer doesn't need to keep paying the employee for a non-compete clause to remain in effect. The only way it's no longer in effect is if the employer decides to release the employee from their contract. In this case, Art quit the job he was hired to do. He wasn't fired/released.

The Art should contact Michael Savage's radio lawyer... 

[Queen]

lol

MUDDDY

[b_dubb]

no one is going to touch Art now that he's proven he is dependable

[Cynnie]

I will always be interested in listening to whatever art bell does ..
Call me crazy .. I am a fool for Art

[b_dubb]

no one is going to touch Art now that he's proven he is dependable

not dependable. and prone to making demands

[Juan Cena]

If a multi-million dollar corporation can't keep streaming audio from crashing, how does Art think that won't happen if he streamed on his site? Heck, C2C is possibly responsible for the most site crashes caused by a radio program. 

[nika01]

Hard to believe the number of c2c assholes that post here. Check out artbell.com now.

[grano salis]

Hard to believe the number of c2c assholes that post here. Check out artbell.com now.

Convert them. Lead them to the light. Do not reject potential listeners.

[nika01]

Convert them. Lead them to the light. Do not reject potential listeners.

Nice idea, however there is nothing wrong with being discriminating, thats why I have a 250 Hz filter on my radio. Don't have to listen to QRM. I can also change the frequency when I don't want to hear someone. Same sort of thing goes for some of the complete assholes that have made outrageous posts here. I wouldn't want them in any way associated with me, as a listener or a contact. There is something devilishly wrong with the anonymity afforded by the internet. It allows people to sink to lows they wouldn't dare plumb in the light of day.

[Animby]

SiriusXM has a non-compete and he signed a 3-year deal so I"m sure they will hold him to that deal. He isn't coming back anytime soon.

Hmmm. Would a "webcast" be competing? And, since Bell complained there was not a large enough caller base, how would a call in podcast work?

[steelbot]

I will always be interested in listening to whatever art bell does ..
Call me crazy .. I am a fool for Art

Creepy Avatar !

[Juan Cena]

Hmmm. Would a "webcast" be competing? And, since Bell complained there was not a large enough caller base, how would a call in podcast work?

Honestly, I think I'd prefer a show without callers at times. Maybe that's just because of C2C callers who seem more interested in their own agendas as opposed to asking insightful questions to the guest.