Art Bell wrote this on BELLGAB tonight, in total:
Hi there everybody. Well it is a sad day for me indeed. I got a call from the Manager I have been workingSO it is over.
with since the start of all this and the answer was NO. The further answer was they do intend to hold me
to a NC. This Manager is a good guy and what decisions that were made, were made above his head.
I did contact a Lawyer who I will not identify unless he wants to be known but I can proudly tell you he is
one of you! He was willing to proceed and felt we had a good chance to win BUT it is expensive and as any
of you know who have ever gone down that road know, it takes a long time. So if my health holds I will see you in less than two Years.
Below is a copy of my last email to Sirius/XM minus the name of the Manager to who it was sent:
First, you may recall I said to you that I thought you would not get much of a bump from putting Coast on, was I right?
Have you actually listened to that show? Have you REALLY listened? You put him on 104 which was I guess a nice way to get back at me, but that guy is a joke. How many people rushed to put any money down to listen to Coast on 104? I bet nobody, all this plus they are doing what I asked for and more!
1. I said what I would like is to be back on but wanted to stream for free, but leave the value added stuff to Sirius/XM you said no. As it stands now I presume the streaming still does not work properly and will not, till at best August or so. You said this was a good idea for me but not Sirius. I disagree, if we develop millions of listener's, in what World is that bad for Sirius in any way? If you can charge BIG bucks per commercial minute.....Broadcasting 101, it's a good thing.
2. We talked about one day with streaming, I asked about other days, you said we could talk about that, we never did.
3. As it stands now people MUST pay about $180.00 a Year if they want to hear Art Bell, why not allow listeners the option of JUST streaming my show for a lesser fee? It could be pro rated, IF it just worked properly.
4. I said I would be willing to buy the Studio gear for whatever you paid if I could be released from my Non Compete, I have not yet heard a answer to that one, though you did once say you would not let me go, you sent me a reply saying you would consider it.
5. I can wait out the remaining time, then stream, which it looks like I will be doing at 70 Years of age.
I just for the life of me can not see why everything with Sirius/XM has to be lumped together in a Business model that works for non
commercial music just fine, but lumps Talk Radio in with it. I understand why it works for Howard, he had little choice unless he
wanted to keep paying fines. I don't know about Dr. Laura.
Two things I can tell you about me, every time I crack the mike I put 110% into it, it takes a lot of work and I am willing to give my time
and energy happily but not if I have no way to grow the audience. I have millions of people waiting for a way to hear me and they would pay
something to do so, but asking them to become subs for $180.00 bucks a Year with a service that does not work well will not get them there.
The other thing is Coast, I will not share time with them. I thought hard about that, and there is no way I would rejoin under any conditions
while you carry them. The reason I came back on is because that show is a insult to the entire field, not to mention at least 45% of it is
commercial or breaks of some sort while the rest is just plain bad Radio.
I truly enjoyed working with you and everybody else at Sirius/XM and wish there was a way to work this out. I understand you think the way
forward is exclusive content and perhaps you are right but in my opinion the World will pass you very shortly while trying to hold on to this
model. It really already is. Nobody tried to stop all the Pirates, every one of my shows was and is available for download the next day, great
for the guy who doesn't want to pay but not so great for the Talk Host who wants the live calls, how does this make sense???
Art
So, there it is. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all of you for so much support. I wish it had worked out
in some way but there were forces at work that I never thought about, I am just a talking head........
Perhaps a final goodbye in text from the great Art Bell?
Could he really hold a desire at the age of 70 to return after a brutal fight with Sirius radio over a non compete clause?
His words about Coast to Coast AM echo true.. It's a blatantly awful show when compared to what it once was. The bumper music and the sounds of thunder hold vacant hope that you'll hear Art Bell's mysterious voice in the still of the night.. but instead a loud bellow of John Wells or a lucid thoughtless George Noory puff their way into the morning.
That's what has now happened.
Six weeks of Bell and he saw his shadow--we all did.
We now have a litany of past programs.. things from 'then.' But that was then. This is now.
And the now has no Art Bell.
This final serenade on Sirius may be it. 70 is the new 50 .. but 70 is still 70.
The #FreeArtBell campaign appears to be over. So much for that woman who bought the domain name. What will she do now?
That's besides the point.
The point is we just lost a pioneer in radio, a voice of reason at midnight, and a powerful force in a lot of people's collective lives.
Good show(s) Art.
We will miss you.
And if we hear you in two years, that's great.
But that's an if...
