Question from a New Listener

HLX · July 30, 2015, 02:49:06 PM

I am fairly new to the Art Bell scene. I picked up the show while having my Satellite radio subscription. Part of my question could be perceived as a little insulting to some but I can't think of any other way to word it after giving it a decent amount of thought.

In all of your opinion, how much longer do you think Art will actually keep doing this. I may be reading into things a bit much but since I've started listening, there seems to be a bit of irritation in his voice. I don't know much on the history of his style of broadcast but just going by all of the Facebook posts and the dramatic roller coaster leading to this, I just wonder how much longer he will do this. I don't mean to insult anyone reading this but I feel if anything, Skype and the callers are going to drive him out of broadcasting.

What are your thoughts on this?

Evil Twin Of Zen · July 30, 2015, 03:04:21 PM

Quote from: HLX on July 30, 2015, 02:49:06 PM
.... I don't mean to insult anyone reading this but I feel if anything, Skype and the callers are going to drive him out of broadcasting.

why do you think that skype and callers are an issue?

Dyna-X · July 30, 2015, 03:12:06 PM

Art actually overall seems to enjoy doing MITD, the skype calls are just another challenge of bringing his show into a new era. How long could he go? He seems healthy enough to go another decade easily, but God only knows. I have the impression from hints hes made on the air is that he wants to stay on as long as circumstances allow.

saucerlike · July 30, 2015, 03:12:08 PM

Nobody but Art can answer that. Right now we're just riding the wave.

HLX · July 30, 2015, 03:25:18 PM

Quote from: Evil Twin Of Zen on July 30, 2015, 03:04:21 PM
why do you think that skype and callers are an issue?

Of course this isn't a blanket statement but I'd say at least 50% of the calls seem to annoy him either over the quality of the actual Skype call or the actual caller. I understand that people freeze up and get scatterbrained on the air but add in unpredictable call quality and the whole turn off your device song and dance, it seems that portion of the show is getting to him. I would be curious as to see the numbers regarding how much show time is used explaining to people how to use their devices. Maybe Skype isn't the answer here.

I was just curious to hear from people who have followed him for a while as to if you think he's preparing for another satellite radio incident.

NightsAtSea · July 30, 2015, 03:32:32 PM

Quote from: HLX on July 30, 2015, 03:25:18 PM
Of course this isn't a blanket statement but I'd say at least 50% of the calls seem to annoy him either over the quality of the actual Skype call or the actual caller. I understand that people freeze up and get scatterbrained on the air but add in unpredictable call quality and the whole turn off your device song and dance, it seems that portion of the show is getting to him. I would be curious as to see the numbers regarding how much show time is used explaining to people how to use their devices. Maybe Skype isn't the answer here.

I was just curious to hear from people who have followed him for a while as to if you think he's preparing for another satellite radio incident.

Same problems, new medium. Art has always spoken his mind about poor call quality - only now instead of 'You're calling on a cell phone, aren't you?' it's 'You're too close to the mic.' I don't think he sounds any more annoyed now than he ever did about crappy cell phone calls, callers who prattle aimlessly, or people who forget to turn down their radio.

As for how much time is used to explain to people how to use Skype, remember that we are in the second week of the show and that most of Art's audience is used to terrestrial radio and landlines; they're new to streaming and Skype. So I'm sure the reiteration of these instructions will slow down as the show ages a bit and the listeners have had some time to adjust.

Now I'm assuming from your statement about the 'satellite radio incident' that you might not know the impetus behind what happened. The stream was consistently malfunctioning and Art's listeners, who were paying a pretty penny to have access to the stream, were often unable to listen to his show. Sirius did not address the problem, and basically refused to cooperate with Art until such a time as they could fix the issues. That's why Art left. The setup now is very different: listening to the stream for MitD is free, and Art is not operating within the confines of a big cooperate handler. He has a lot more flexibility now, and the problems that arose with Sirius are highly unlikely to happen here.

HLX · July 30, 2015, 03:41:17 PM

I have to say, it does add a new level of guilty pleasure entertainment seeing how much Art will allow a caller to try to rectify the situation before he throws his hands up. Add on callers who decide they heard Art talking about sterile people and despite being corrected continue on their topic in awkward detail and you've got yourself a show. Listening with earbuds though is almost playing Russian roulette with callers and their ever changing volume.