Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

[Luna]

Ok, IF Art won't come back maybe Sirius could replace him with someone who is a gifted host like George Knapp or even that guy who does Ground Zero http://www.groundzeromedia.org/  , I think his name is Clyde Lewis (but since I can't find his show archived I never get a chance to listen to him since I listen in my garage via the web when I exercise). Neither, one rises to the level of Art Bell in terms of being captivating, but they are certainly better than the other options buy a significant margin.

Thank goodness for George Knapp... Unfortunately, I haven't listened to Clyde Lewis.

[TumbleWeed]

If anyone wants a flick to cheer them up, Scarface is on Ifc.

[area51drone]

This is kind of a creepy post.

so was her picture.. 

[Falkie2013]

Luna-- I signed your petition.

Honestly, I want to give Art the benefit of the doubt at the moment. I have subscribed to Sirius for over 5 years, and although Art is awesome, I can't terminate my subscription over his show.

As a long-time subscriber, however, I do have a bit of insight into Sirius:

The streaming has gotten better, but there have always been issues. I have heard many talk hosts on SiriusXM apologizing or complaining about the streaming issues. Also, the streaming delay is really annoying, since on a lot of other shows it is hard to call in at the right time for things.

Truckers seem to make the bulk of listeners for most shows, but Art has another issue-- he is on at 7PM PST/10PM EST. Why is this a problem? I don't drive much during those hours. A lot of people are driving for only short periods at those hours (excluding truckers). I bought the streaming piece years ago because I wanted to listen at work or when I wasn't in my car. When I listened to Art, it was either on demand the next day or streaming over my PC/iPhone. If I counted up the hours I heard his show in a week in my car, it would likely have been between around 2-4 at most.

I understand the anger and vitriol about this, but I honestly think we need a two-pronged approach here: Tell Sirius that we aren't happy and want them to compromise, and tell Art (respectfully) that we think his all-in gamble went a step too far and that he should come back to the air while things are being negotiated. Sure, cell phone audio sucks, callers dropped.. But, really, if we expressed that we understand this and feel that the quality of the show is still extremely high despite these issues, maybe he might reconsider since his currently-expressed issues seem to boil down to, "I don't want to give people a half-assed experience of my show."

Mind telling us why anyone in their right mind would want Art to return just so he could f*ck us all over again should he decide arbitrarily ( or whatever you choose to call it ) to quit once again.
Or like the song says :

" again ... and again ... and again ... and again. "

" I was a quitter. I had a radio show on am. And it reached the other side. From Pahrump they did ride. But now like Sinatra said I am just a clyde. I quit once or twice or three times before. Now it's only $noore. But I'll be back ... again ... and again ... and again ... and again ... until the suckers get tired of meeeeeee. "

[littlechris]

if art ends up leaving for good. what will happen to this site?

[coaster]

If anyone wants a flick to cheer them up, Scarface is on Ifc.

Just watched Elysium myself. Waste of time. Got my hopes up just to be disappointed. Something about that sounds familiar..

[jazmunda]

I can't see Sirius caving in here so I guess that's the end of Art Bell on Sirius.

I also can't see a web podcast, even free, having the wide and varied audience that Art wants.

Nothing short of terrestrial radio will bring that.

What are the main reasons? The drop outs? The small audience?

Will a stand alone (without Sirius) podcasts change this? Perhaps less drop outs but what about a wide and varied audience?

[ajiav]

I'm not a midget. I posted this earlier.
http://imageshack.us/a/img823/2209/zv7y.jpg

The forehead crescent + handle = Sailor Moon fan, I presume?

Just introduced my daughter to SM last year, she's seven and took to it right away.  Part of growing up in '90s, not unlike Art Bell. 

[Agent : Orange]

Well that's it for me. Have a good night all. Tomorrow can't be any worse.

Cheers

[area51drone]

I'm not a midget. I posted this earlier.
http://imageshack.us/a/img823/2209/zv7y.jpg

3'3" tops.

[Luna]

Mind telling us why anyone in their right mind would want Art to return just so he could fuck us all over again should he decide arbitrarily ( or whatever you choose to call it ) to quit once again.
Or like the song says :

" again ... and again ... and again ... and again. "

" I was a quitter. I had a radio show on am. And it reached the other side. From Pahrump they did ride. But now like Sinatra said I'm a clyde. I quit once or twice or three times before. Now it's only $noore. But I'll be back ... again ... and again ... and again ... and again ... until the suckers get tired of meeeeeee. "

Because I am a loyal listener. I understand that I may seem like a dog that's been kicked in the ribs who keep coming back for more, but all I can think of is how nice it was to hear him back and how much I want to experience the same feeling again.

[dortmunder]

I understand why people are upset. For me, Art has always felt like more than just a radio show host. I've always felt like I actually knew him, like he was a close friend, so I can understand why people would feel betrayed, abandoned and a sense of grief over the loss of the show. I was so excited when Art first announced that he was coming back, and I have greatly enjoyed listening to him over the past six weeks, even though I don't think the shows have been especially great.

Personally, I hate the callers. I have never liked the Halloween shows because I think the callers are lame. The stories are fake and it's much less interesting than the guests. To end the show over something as silly as poor caller quality is just silly. I would much rather listen to four hours of Graham Hancock over the stumbling, bumbling blather of a caller who just wants to be on the air.

I too feel like this was a cop-out by Art, and I wonder if Art has trouble dealing with the adulation and outpouring of love that he receives every time he makes a return. I think Art just wants to talk about things that interest him, but he means so much to so many people and I always got the feeling that he had a hard time dealing with that.

PDX represent!

[popple]

It occurred to me that some people may hear the repeat and think Art hurt his back again. There are probably people out there worried about him right now.

[Morgus]

I understand why people are upset. For me, Art has always felt like more than just a radio show host. I've always felt like I actually knew him, like he was a close friend, so I can understand why people would feel betrayed, abandoned and a sense of grief over the loss of the show. I was so excited when Art first announced that he was coming back, and I have greatly enjoyed listening to him over the past six weeks, even though I don't think the shows have been especially great.

Personally, I hate the callers. I have never liked the Halloween shows because I think the callers are lame. The stories are fake and it's much less interesting than the guests. To end the show over something as silly as poor caller quality is just silly. I would much rather listen to four hours of Graham Hancock over the stumbling, bumbling blather of a caller who just wants to be on the air.

I too feel like this was a cop-out by Art, and I wonder if Art has trouble dealing with the adulation and outpouring of love that he receives every time he makes a return. I think Art just wants to talk about things that interest him, but he means so much to so many people and I always got the feeling that he had a hard time dealing with that.

very good observations.
i too didn't care for the ghost story shows and prefer good guests.
the 90's callers like Mel were much better

[Luna]

The forehead crescent + handle = Sailor Moon fan, I presume?

Just introduced my daughter to SM last year, she's seven and took to it right away.  Part of growing up in '90s, not unlike Art Bell.

It's pagan inspired.

[jazmunda]

I'm sure it wasn't you Jaz the Munda.

I know that. I'm not so narcissistic to think that.

[Jake]

I expected a longer ride.

[phrodo]

I was able to get on easily because Sirius is not available to an international audience.

I got an account because I used my Aussie credit card with a fake US address when I signed up. I fully expected the trial membership to be declined because of this but it wasn't and I had 30 free days. Close to the end of the 30 free days I was worried that once they actually processed my Aussie credit card with a fake US address that the jig would be up and they'd cancel my account because the transaction probably wouldn't go through due to my actual address and the fake address not matching up. Prior to this occurring I asked MV if he would purchase a prepaid Sirius card for $30 so that I could attach it to my account and Sirius would then deduct from that first rather than swiping my credit card. That seemed to work and I have since purchased two more $50 cards to attach to my account. The have taken out 3 months worth out of that so I am left with about 5 and 1/2 months worth of credit that is basically useless now.

When I originally signed up I expected there to be geoblocking on the app and that I wouldn't be able to listen due to my location but it worked and my solution to get around the US address and not swiping my Aussie credit card work too so I was a paid up member.

Now back to others in the international Art Bell audience. They might not have been so bold or clever (I don't consider myself that maybe crafty) or risky enough to give it a try. As many here know I have been a long time fan of Art going back to my days living in the US in 96 to 98 and I was not going to not try my best to listen to Art. I also didn't want to not pay for it either.

Having said all that I do not believe for a second that Art's reason for quitting is because of a lack of international callers to the show (or for my avalanche of 5 calls in 28 shows for that matter). Surely I did not bring down the empire.

Hell - all I did was sign up for that free 30 day internet deal where ya only had to give an email address .. and when the first freebie ran out I signed up for another with a different email address. Maybe you should have gone my route and donated your sub money to Falkie? 

[Ward]

Thank goodness for George Knapp... Unfortunately, I haven't listened to Clyde Lewis.

Luna, i agree Knapp is great.

If your interested in very similar topics by a another veteran in the field check out Don Ecker's Dark Matters Radio.
he has 4 years of free archives. I am a regular caller to his show especially Friday nights, quite an excellent show actually.

http://www.dqrm.com/showlist/dmr2.php

give it a listen it's only 2 hours but he does have 4 years of older shows for free.

[TumbleWeed]

Just watched Elysium myself. Waste of time. Got my hopes up just to be disappointed. Something about that sounds familiar..

Dissapointing day then today.

" Arts Cuban Brother decideds to take his coke and go home"

[Luna]

Luna, i agree Knapp is great.

If your interested in very similar topics by a another veteran in the field check out Don Ecker's Dark Matters Radio.
he has 4 years of free archives. I am a regular caller to his show especially Friday nights, quite an excellent show actually.

http://www.dqrm.com/showlist/dmr2.php

give it a listen it's only 2 hours but he does have 4 years of older shows for free.

Thank you! I will definitely check it out. I am able to listen to shows during work, so this will be great.

[Heather Wade]

I know that. I'm not so narcissistic to think that.

I'm spouting nonsense, it's a weird night. 
No worries, agree with Agent : Orange that tomorrow can't be any worse.

[guildnavigator]

if art ends up leaving for good. what will happen to this site?

This site wasn't always BellGab, it was coastgab and before that georgenoorysucks.com. I'd say it will continue. It does ok when Art goes off air. We've had a very long "Art Bell quits" thread before, you know. It went on for two years. Here we are again.

[jazmunda]

Hell - all I did was sign up for that free 30 day internet deal where ya only had to give an email address .. and when the first freebie ran out I signed up for another with a different email address. Maybe you should have gone my route and donated your sub money to Falkie? 

That defeats the purpose. I wanted to pay for it. I wanted to support Art. I figured the more money he brought in the more Sirius would want to keep him around.

[Falkie2013]

Because I am a loyal listener. I understand that I may seem like a dog that's been kicked in the ribs who keep coming back for more, but all I can think of is how nice it was to hear him back and how much I want to experience the same feeling again.

2 Peter 2:22

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Like a dog that returns to its vomit, so is a fool that is insane in his foolishness.

[dortmunder]

I'm not a midget. I posted this earlier.
http://imageshack.us/a/img823/2209/zv7y.jpg

Well, aren't you cute. And here's me thinking we're all a bunch of oafish old dudes at Bellgab.

[popple]

lol So is everything in Art's Parts a collectors item now?

[ajiav]

It's pagan inspired.

My bad; striking coincidence!

[phrodo]

so was her picture.. 

says the person with the Bubbles avatar... now that's a creepy pic.

[whiptrackercracker]

That defeats the purpose. I wanted to pay for it. I wanted to support Art. I figured the more money he brought in the more Sirius would want to keep him around.

Same here.....not sure how I feel now though.....first time I had gone out on the limb for Art with cash....