BellGab/bellchan Archive

Quote from: jazmunda on November 10, 2013, 08:08:12 PM
I too am in the camp that it could have something to do with internet connections and cheap wireless routers. I had one issue the whole 6/7 weeks and I just restarted the app and away I went. The biggest problem I had was that my fat fingers could never rewind the progress bar properly but that's hardly a deal breaker.

No, it's perfectly conceivable that Sirus' systems are not up to par.   I also had problems, and I am a computer tech [here's my badge].   I attempted to use the system with multiple mobile devices, and desktop computers.    One night in particular;  it was like pulling teeth to get the system to work properly.     One night in particular was really bad --- I finally gave up after 2 hours and just caught the program the following morning.

At first I was listening to a live broadcast; then it suddenly quit.   So, I restarted multiple times;  each time catching up to the same point it cut off before.    Switching to a different mobile device --- SAME result, followed by 2 separate desktop computers and multiple browsers.       This was no connection issue on my part,  this was a back-end server issue on Sirius' part.

I have a very high speed broadband connection; enough to stream HD 1080 quality videos ----  but, that doesn't matter;  I 've also streamed over 56k dial-up modems and had less frustration.

Also, do you guys not realize part of the problem was the 90 minute automatic timeout that's geared to "save Sirius and us bandwidth data costs" ?     

It's a 4 hour program --- SET THE TIMEOUT TO 4 HOURS; it should have been that way from Day #1.

Secondly,   who thought it was a great idea to make a mobile app that doesn't allow you to enter in the CHANNEL NUMBER when that's how you find channel numbers on the satellite receivers..

I'm a guy that's been streaming talk radio for nearly 20 years online --- and I RARELY have problems.      Sirius is seriously one of the worst platforms I've ever encountered.     Don't get me wrong; it HAS POTENTIAL  ---- but it's severely lacking in obvious user interface design and back-end server support.


So,  IN SUMMARY:

* Back-end streaming servers that are not up to par.
* Terrible User Interface design  (has potential,  but lacks obvious things such as selecting by channel number)
* Setting a timeout to less time than the program length isn't a real good idea --- took way to long to "fix" and should have been implemented on DAY #1.

I've seen / experienced worse and  I've definitely seen / experienced much better.    For a premium service like this ---- Sirius SHOULD be on the FAR END of the "better" spectrum and they are most definitely not.

Quote from: Art Bell on November 08, 2013, 06:06:55 PM
To be VERY clear I was not proposing anything that many other Hosts are not doing on Sirius/XM, as a
independent Broadcaster streaming or even being on regular Broadcast stations at the same time is
fine, we proposed to keep Sirius/XM exclusive but simply stream as others do.

This was not a impulsive decision much as it may have looked that way from the outside, we had been
talking with Sirius/XM for the entire time almost every day about the streaming problems. Listeners to my
program were effected to a much greater extent then for other shows that had been developed on the
Sat part of the company because they almost entirely came in on the 30 day trial period which was really
tough for them. If you give something a try and have a bad experience when it comes time to pay about
$180.00 for continued service what do you think most people would do? Sure, perhaps some did not like
the show or some just could not afford it, but we had hundreds of emails from people who were getting
constant drop outs.

I am in no way angry with Sirius/XM just disapointed that something could not be worked out. I am also
very sad that they are not talking to us. Perhaps I am expecting a reply too soon. I would like nothing better
than to be on right now.

At the end we had requested some remedy like a Year of free streaming OR until they could fix their
problem. The break point was when they said no, that was Monday. On Wednesday we proposed what
you see above which they said they were activly considering. Nothing since, no communication from them.
Maybe they think my back problems were too much, there were times it was tough to even walk home after
sitting for four hours. BTW, I chose to do four hours instead of the contracted three and if we had found a
way to continue I would have done so till I could no longer walk. So if you think I just wanted to quit you are
so wrong.

The only good news of the day is that Airyn's Family is safe after the Typhoon, we were very worried. Thank
God for that.

                                                                                                                            Art

Art,

Glad to hear Airyn's Family is safe and you're still in this Sirius game. 

I sent you a few emails in the past few days...   I think I've identified a potential (hopefully) key to a solution to this situation.   Please check your email.

If you've already considered that ---- good.   Just trying to help.

Two emails:  Nov 05  nearly midnight Pacific Time,   and  Nov 06  about 11:20 am   according to my timestamps..


Best regards,
-Will

Quote from: georgesucks on November 07, 2013, 08:47:38 AM
Art the Quitter, I have a question for you. If you "do" come back to the air in one form or another, are you going to quit like a little bitch again?

Thank you for you time Art the Quitter. Btw Art Do you see George Noory quitting? No because George is no quitter just YOU are. Yes George may suck but you just let him win again by NOT BEING A PRO.

Why would you be so childish?

DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND HE DID THIS FOR A PURPOSE?   HE'S HOLDING SIRIUS' FEET TO THE AGREEMENT.   HE'S DOING THIS FOR THE LISTENERS.   You should appreciate the stand that Art has taken here.

Stop doing things that might jeopardize his willingness to come back at all .... SERIOUSLY think about what you're doing.  Talking to the one man you're here for in this manner is off the charts ridiculous.

Not just you... many others with your sentiment... you're not alone, so I'm not intending to single you out but your post is the most recent I can see.

Do you see the testing page on ArtBell.com ?    They are testing out different streaming alternatives.

HERE:  http://artbell.com/testing-a-potential-live-streaming-solution/

Art is trying to do what's right here.    A LITTLE COOPERATION and patience might be in order.   Perhaps if you (and others) want to be complaining ---- contact Sirius and tell them to fix their platform immediately or agree to Art's logical request..    Much smaller companies have had a perfectly fine streaming solution in place for nearly a decade --- it's not inconceivable that Sirius could fix their technical glitches.

I mentioned in a previous post that *HOPEFULLY* Art interprets all this childish and emotional behaviour as an expression of how much we wanted him to return to the airwaves and how much this situation is like having the rug being pulled out from underneath you.   He gets that... he wants to come back, but the circumstances have to be right.

My previous post expanding on some of this: http://bellgab.com/index.php?topic=5069.3810  near the bottom..

Quote from: gabecolemanpl on November 05, 2013, 04:33:19 PM
I live in a very small town in Washington are internet sucks we cant get higher than 10mb and its off and on ... and I am one of the users that got burnt out on the webcast with errors and such , I have a quad core computer running windows 8 16 gbs ram and I still have errors and the area I live in sucks for xm ... it cuts out and I get hardly a bar ... I have at least 10 friends and 4 relatives that listen to art in the coast to coast days and we all were unable to get anything out off xm verison of dark matter other than dloaded the archives ...

I feel Art went to bat for me and 1 year to fix the issue would have gave them enuff time to update , repair , fix whatever issues they are having ?
I also feel art should have at least finished out the month ? gave them some time to work something out ? I dunno ? but damn I was looking forward to laying in bed and reliving some youthful memories

You are spot on!   Art Bell DID go to bat for us.  How can the show hope to succeed with all these technical problems?

Also, the petition should never have been closed.    Art did (temporarily hopefully) pull the cord ONLY after trying and trying to get Sirius to live up to their end of the bargain.

It's not Art that is at fault --- it's Sirius.   Plenty of other streaming systems have figured out how to correctly stream programs.   Sirius has the power to correct this.

In Defense of Art Bell...

I tried to explain where the real blame is on this post:  http://bellgab.com/index.php?topic=5069.3840   (top of page #129)

I hope people focus on how to make this right.

Also, why would the petition be closed so quickly after only 7 signatures?

-Will no doubt

YOU'RE ALL MAD AT THE WRONG SIDE HERE GUYS.

Don't you see what you're doing here?  You're alienating (no pun) the ONE guy you're here to support.

He came back.  That's what you (and I) all wanted.  He did it with the best intentions of making this work out.  For example: he chose to do 4 hours instead of his contractual 3 hours.

Sure it would have been a difficult road to win back his listener base even on a level playing field,  but of all the people in the world that COULD (and still CAN) do it, Art Bell can.

However, a level playing field it was not as there was the Sirius "pay-wall" to contend with.  Knowing the "pay-wall" exists, Art still made the deal with the expectation there would be no further obstacles or (might I add ridiculous) hiccups in the service.  Guess what?  There WERE hiccups with the service.   Some of you say you had no issues; but I certainly did and I'm a techie guy.  It took me 3 separate mobile devices and 2 desktop (and 2 hours) just to be able to listen to one particular episode live (I forget which one in particular).  I just couldn't get the stream to function properly --- it would play for a while then just completely stop.   Apparently, these are long term problems Sirius has had if you search for it.   Art didn't expect that, nor did we.   Frankly, to have such a large and powerful company put out a total piece of garbage mobile app is beyond me.  You can't even locate the channel by entering a channel number!   There were so many obstacles to an smooth and expected listening experience;  as Art eluded to --- Why would people pay their hard earned money for such lousy service?  Yes, I said LOUSY...  Satellites in orbit, amazing technology if you really consider it all SURE,  but all Art and the rest of us expected was a decent mobile/desktop app and decent streaming connectivity.  Don't anyone out there say decent streaming is next to impossible;  I know a handful of other broadcasters that can do it just fine.

You guys sure do give the guy you're all here for an interesting and unexpected response to this situation.   At this point HE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT, not angry emotionally hateful insensitive comments.  You all need to realize who you're dealing with here.  To do what Art Bell does requires to be a master of his art form.   Who else has been able to step up and do it?  Many would say NOBODY (I am one of the many).   As Art mentioned things have to be "right" --- and they just weren't.  He's taking a stand for you guys.  If his mind is not in it, the show will suffer.   Again, Sirius is to blame here and they CAN make it right if they choose to.  Art's request is NOT out of line.

You all need to be careful with your comments that you don't give Art pause to just want to throw in the towel.  With the kind of response I've read in here --- it's quite frankly shameful to say some of these things to anyone but, to Art Bell?  Come on.   What some of you have said has got to hurt; if just a little.

***** So SUPPORT instead of detract from what Art Bell attempted to do.   Make your voice known to Sirius. *****

The free streaming would grow the user base to re-attract the old listeners and bring in a new generation.  Riding that fully enhanced listener base, it doesn't take a genius to realize after the 12 months point when the free streaming is gone the Sirius sign up rate and retention rate would be much higher than the situation is now.  Even if the type of technical glitches and badly designed mobile app we are experiencing *today* happened at the end of 12 months;  I would say there is a higher chance of weathering the storm at that point.   I don't say that to give Sirius a pass on their mobile app and streaming --- they need to fix their stuff regardless.   I'm saying this to make a point --- Art's listening base was just coming back --- Sirius' issues made an already precarious situation topple over.

YOU have the power to make Sirius reconsider their stance.   Look guys... it's either you realize what's really going on here and address your concerns appropriately or potentially lose Art Bell.  Again, at the MOMENT he is willing to come back.  Don't jeopardize that (current) willingness and give him pause to not even want to resume broadcasting.

Regarding your recent purchase: I get it you bought a XM radio and a subscription etc.   Don't forget, Art put a lot of time and attention into this endeavor as well.   It's Sirus you need to focus your attention on.   CALL, WRITE AND PRESSURE them to make this situation right.  They are the ones that failed here.  It takes a delicate balance of having Art's mind on his artform and the technical side from Sirius must be there to pull this off --- and the tech side (the relatively easy part) clearly wasn't there.   Even if the technical glitches caused 10% to abandon ship --- that's 10% too many.    One man vs. an entire corporation;  take a step back and think about who has the resources to fix this situation and then prosper by supporting the king of late-night talk radio once again.   Did Sirius not look at his broadcast numbers from the past?   At some point Art Bell will have his critical mass point and can commence being the king of late night airwaves --- but, that will be close to impossible with technical glitches and rocky start Sirius has caused --- this needs to be remedied QUICKLY.

So I say again please, sit back and think about what you're saying before potentially giving Art pause to think about never returning --- ever (again) --- man.. with some of the comments here I'd hate to see how you treat your enemies based on the way you talk to Art Bell --- again, the man you're all here for.   

Maybe emotions got the best of you --- ***** hopefully Art considers all this turmoil and feedback as desperate emotional crying out to not lose him again ***** .   At this point HE IS WILLING TO COME BACK if Sirius can make things right.  Sirius severely undermined Art's ability to grow and prosper on this platform.  Being as close to a level playing field as others in this broadcasting arena is important.  Free AM talk radio it is not;  but at least the streaming paying customers should have had a pleasant listening experience without ridiculous technical glitches and a mobile app that's not like pulling teeth to make function (case in point:  ALLOW CHOOSING THE CHANNEL BY CHANNEL NUMBER) --- but, I digress as that enhancement to the mobile app is not the major issue here.   He came back in a good faith effort.

NOW HE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT.

-Will no doubt.