Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

[PDXBellfan]

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.

[Scully]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uR_7Vz6Duo

Beyond funny!!!  Lolololol 

[TumbleWeed]

Luna, you need a boyfriend apparently if this whole thing is bothering you that badly.   I think there are a few studs on here who would take you out.   (Myself not included, see my popping eye post on bellgab convention thread).    But you'll have to post a pic of you where you don't look like you're 3'2".

This is kind of a creepy post.

[HumanBeing]

There is that old saying, "Gotta go away, so you can come back".

I agree with others who have said this should have been handled behind the scenes.
Art wants a wider audience with the free stream of the live show for a year.  Have to agree with him that that
would bring the shot of enthusiasm to Dark Matter that he wants.

There are many shows that are streamed for free.  I don't see what the big deal is.

The big deal is SiriusXM is a paid subscriber service. It isn't free.

[Spinner]

Anyone who would like to email Sirius, here are a couple of emails:

Kenny Curtis  (Senior Director â€" Entertainment Programming)
Kenny.Curtis@siriusxm.com

And you may also want to call:
Listener Care:  1-866-528-7474  or 1-866-635-2349


If anyone knows other contact emails, please post.

[SixWeekTenure(tm)]

Art is not going to put out a shit product, that's all there is too it.  He wants it to be perfect, and he felt it wasn't.   You guys are way way too hard on him.

I didn't think Dark Matter was bad radio whatsoever. Art was a tough interview, not falling asleep at the console like Noory does on a nightly basis. Sure, some of the guests weren't my cup of tea but it was a pleasure to have Art back four nights a week and I don't see how the stream issue couldn't be resolved in time if SiriusXM weren't willing to allow the free stream on his website - and why should they? Giving management an ultimatum and screwing over your enthusiastic fanbase is unbecoming of a radio legend like Art Bell. I don't think that's too hard of a stance.   

[Luna]

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

[Luna]

I didn't think Dark Matter was bad radio whatsoever. Art was a tough interview, not falling asleep at the console like Noory does on a nightly basis. Sure, some of the guests weren't my cup of tea but it was a pleasure to have Art back four nights a week and I don't see how the stream issue couldn't be resolved in time if SiriusXM weren't willing to allow the free stream on his website - and why should they? Giving management an ultimatum and screwing over your enthusiastic fanbase is unbecoming of a radio legend like Art Bell. I don't think that's too hard of a stance.

I agree!!! It was nice hearing how interested and alert he was in all of his interviews and callers and he was quick to ask questions that had popped into my head.

[guildnavigator]

I'm 28. I've listened to him since I was 13. Of course I have not heard ALL of his shows, but I heard a lot of shows including some Dreamland episodes I find online as well as his Art of Talk, narrated by himself. It was great!

So you were listening to him in his prime, in 1998. I started similarly young around 1994.

[steelbot]

Luna, you need a boyfriend apparently if this whole thing is bothering you that badly.   I think there are a few studs on here who would take you out.   (Myself not included, see my popping eye post on bellgab convention thread).    But you'll have to post a pic of you where you don't look like you're 3'2".

I think advice on getting laid should not come from BellGab! =P

[Étouffée]

Did Art ever play, as a bumper, "I Scare Myself" by Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks?

[Luna]

Anyone who would like to email Sirius, here are a couple of emails:

Kenny Curtis  (Senior Director â€" Entertainment Programming)
Kenny.Curtis@siriusxm.com

And you may also want to call:
Listener Care:  1-866-528-7474  or 1-866-635-2349


If anyone knows other contact emails, please post.

Yay! I have a thread with the direct Address to Sirius XM. Also, I'm looking for petition signers. 
__________________________________________________
Sign this petition to allow Art to stream his show Live.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/artbell/

[Heather Wade]

The big deal is SiriusXM is a paid subscriber service. It isn't free.

Kind of like HBO making one of their shows available for free, right?
Unfortunately, I think I get it.  And with knowledge, comes sorrow.

[guildnavigator]

I didn't think Dark Matter was bad radio whatsoever. Art was a tough interview, not falling asleep at the console like Noory does on a nightly basis. Sure, some of the guests weren't my cup of tea but it was a pleasure to have Art back four nights a week and I don't see how the stream issue couldn't be resolved in time if SiriusXM weren't willing to allow the free stream on his website - and why should they? Giving management an ultimatum and screwing over your enthusiastic fanbase is unbecoming of a radio legend like Art Bell. I don't think that's too hard of a stance.

Sounds reasonable to me.

[Luna]

So you were listening to him in his prime, in 1998. I started similarly young around 1994.

Yeah, that was his prime alright! I remember originally tuning in so I can be lulled to sleep by the voices in the radio... but Art kept me up, sometimes shaking all night. Scary stuff!

[Falkie2013]

I also can't believe he kept shilling that C. Crane radio knowing he was quitting.
Here's something to ease the pain.
And is how I feel among other things.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkJUMz9RTag

As an aside, Gamestop was open until 12:30 tonight for the new Call Of Duty game, Ghosts.
Somehow fitting as we all remember the ghosts of past AB shows on this of all nights.
Did anyone here buy the game ?

I wonder if Obama has a spare cruise missle I can have right now to send it to a certain trailer in Pahrump.

BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM)


[attachment deleted by admin]

[HMC]

New post: http://artbell.com/art-bell-leaves-siriusxm/

EDIT: It appear to be a repost of that SiriusBuzz article. Interesting.

[Textor]

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."

[Heather Wade]

Anyone who would like to email Sirius, here are a couple of emails:

Kenny Curtis  (Senior Director â€" Entertainment Programming)
Kenny.Curtis@siriusxm.com

And you may also want to call:
Listener Care:  1-866-528-7474  or 1-866-635-2349


If anyone knows other contact emails, please post.

Was already planning on calling, but will email Mr. Curtis tomorrow.

Thanks Spinner!  I promise I will be polite and behave.  That is what Art would ask of us if we are writing
to them about his show.

[PDXBellfan]

I really do not understand all the so-called issues. I never had a single problem streaming from my computer or from my phone. I loved the on-demand function. I would listen to the shows at work to help pass the time.

[FightTheFuture]

Kind of like HBO making one of their shows available for free, right?
Unfortunately, I think I get it.  And with knowledge, comes sorrow.

Sirius isn't about to break the floodgate by offering their service for free. That would be a disaster, as every decent show would begin making similar demands.

[Luna]

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."

You are great Textor, thank you so much for signing! I still believe in him and I'm a loyal fan of his. It would be great if you let Sirius know these thoughts as well, but I think you have a good point.

[ziznak]

I also have a bit of that "OH YEAH WELL FUCK YOU AND YER AUTORITAIII" in my blood as well... I've gotten fired and quit jobs in a blaze of glory before.  Art don't take any shit and he wants things to be his way and thats just part of how he operates.  I can't say this is a surprise really.  I noticed there were issues technically but really chalked it up to non technical people that can't come up with their own work arounds.  I didnt think the stream failing or the app time out was a big deal but if you're a perfectionist host then just extrapolate that out a bit and I could see where there might be a problem.  Let's see how shit plays out I'm not throwing in my Dark Matter hat just yet.

[Araxen]

Sirius isn't about to break the floodgate by offering their service for free. That would be a disaster, as every decent show would begin making similar demands.

and then would have 40 minutes of commercials per hour like terrestrial radio. NO THANKS!

[Chad Jacobs]

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.

[TumbleWeed]

I'm not mad about this anymore just sad.
I only started listening to art replays a few years ago. Never heard him live, I was a kid when he was in his prime.
I finaly get to hear him live, it's great. Kept me entertained while I worked, and gave me something to listen too in the evening while I did my hobbies. Then he just jumps ship. Leaves me without something I enjoy and have grown acustomed too.

Someone going to have to put together a art stream that doesnt suck. U7 replays the same shows constantly.

[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."

Tell us all please just what type of ass Art was being tonight for doing this to his loyal fan base and his paying customers as well.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROO7xSTxfY

Half ass ? Quarter ass ? Or all ass ?
Or ass hat ?

[jazmunda]

Is that really accurate though? The cellphone audio did suck, listen to the programs, potato phones and all. Beyond that, it was mostly bellgabbers. No offense to Jaz, but when a single Australian listener can get on so much on Skype that he has to moderate his own calls to not wear out his welcome, there's a damned problem.

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.

[popple]

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.

Well, if they wont fix it for all these people they wont be just fixing it for Art.

SiriusXM, you are basic as hell  :

[Heather Wade]

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