In a message tonight posted on Facebook and thoroughly discussed on Bellgab and other sites that follow Art Bell and the program MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT, the master of the macabre stated this, in full:
MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT
We have a decision to make and I think I have made it. We can either serve our listener’s and Time Traveler’s or Radio Stations but not both because the stations want more Commercials. I am not going to do that. If they want to carry the show we will let them offset it to a later time but we will Not add more Commercial minutes. So what we can give them is ratings because what we are doing is clearly better in every way then anything else out there. For this reason I have said no to several big stations. I could build another big Network but then I would have what I left because it became something I could not live with. Those who do not learn from their mistakes repeat them.
Art
Recently the price of the ‘time traveler’ cost went from $5 to $7..
The program can also boast high interest, and undoubtedly a huge turnout of listeners Monday through Friday when it airs on the Dark Matter Radio Network and several other affiliates that have picked up the program..
Bell has reinforced his original message, saying that he will not dump stations but also will not change the format of his program to meet the needs of advertisers–undoubtedly advertisers who want desperately to get their products on during the newest incarnation of Art Bell in broadcasting.
Midnight in the Desert has been acclaimed as some of the best material from Bell since the 1990s when he hosted Coast to Coast AM nightly with over ten million listeners. Under the reign of George Noory, Coast’s success has diminished greatly.
Those who have followed the Art Bell roller coaster will remember ups when he began a Sirius show and downs when he seriously quit it. This go around, Bell seems relaxed and is having fun. Last Friday night, his ‘made a deal with the devil’ open lines was some of the most entertaining radio in years.
The newest message showcases that Bell is going to do this. His way.
The perfect quote, from Bell himself, to summarize the noticeably calmer, cooler, and energized 70-year-old talk show king:
Here it is in a nutshell, I can do what is fun or profitable, I am going for the fun, life is short