Day: December 13, 2015

HEATHER WADE WEIGHS IN

Heather Wade, newest host of MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT, writes this in full on Facebook about the situation with Art Bell,

I write to you with a heavy heart tonight. It has been a pleasure and a great honor to work with Art Bell. I have been with him every step of the way through each incident: his studio internet being tampered with on Sept 23rd, shots fired at his studio on Oct 21st while he was on the air, the threatening phone call he received at his private home number on Nov 18th, the intruder on his property on Nov 23rd, and this last incident of a shot being fired at him when he was on his way to his studio on Dec 9th.

The incidents are becoming more brazen, and more often. I’d give anything to know who it is. Anything. I want this person/ persons caught and stopped. However, wishing it does not make it so. The proper Police reports have been made, Art’s security increased, yet it continued.

For anyone who thinks this is a stunt or an excuse to quit, I have made reports to Nye County Deputies myself, and have photos of Art’s injuries from when he dove to the ground when he heard the shot on Dec 9th. Unfortunately, it is all too real. I am as angry, and as sad as all of you that Art has been pushed off the air, but the right thing to do is to put his family first. That he was bullied off the air like this makes me so mad I could chew up nails and spit out carpet tacks.

I will be hosting Midnight In The Desert starting on Monday night. It pains me a great deal to have my dream handed to me like this; Art should be the one on that mic. It is his rightful place. Anytime he wants to return, the seat is his. For now, I will keep that fire lit for him.

And already, she has a discussion group on Facebook …

ROWLAND WITH THE PUNCHES

While some would perceive anarchy behind the scenes at the Dark Matter Radio Network in light of Art Bell’s sudden and unexpected departure Friday, Keith Rowland is putting a professional voice to the chaos. The brains behind the paranormal radio network that has grown in popularity online–with help from MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT and Richard C. Hoagland alike–put out an official statement on ArtBell.com to explain the future plans. At least the immediate future.

artbellbye

Rowland explains,

I will run Midnight in the Desert w/Heather Wade on the Dark Matter Digital Network for the next 30 days minimum. She will start in Art’s same time slot for Monday and Tuesday…

However, seeing as I’m obligated to continue feeding the terrestrial affiliate stations for the next 30 days, I’ll need to feed either Heather’s live show or replays of Art Bell’s archives, (which ever they determine the best for them yet to be decided). If I need to feed the Art Bell replays to them at 9-12, Art’s time slot,  I will have Heather do MITD from 6-9 pm PT LIVE to insure she gets to do shows for you also. If the radio stations are fine with Heather filling in for Art, we’ll keep her at 9-12 PT.

And this,

Her shows will be added to the same Time Travelers archive as Art’s shows, so your current subscription will have Art’s old shows and these new ones. It’s up to you to continue to support the show with Heather by keeping your existing subscription or signing up again for the Time Travelers subscription, now at $4.99. After 30 days, we all will evaluate the financial situation of whether we can continue. I hope the subscriber base will maintain the show. We will do our part in reducing the costs.

Heather Wade, Art Bell’s producer as of Friday morning and full time MIDNIGHT host as of the night, is expected to return Monday with a program in the wake of his quitting.

The HORROR REPORT has been covering the situation as it developed. Those new to it may find helpful information in the annals of archives on this website. 

There has been rampant speculation on whether the OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT host Hoagland would continue. On that note, Rowland writes,

As for Richard C Hoagland’s OSOM program,  again, it’s all about finances. RCH and I need to re-evaluate our financial model and hope to come to some resolution to continue running his show on DMDN. Stay tuned for updates on this matter. He could be back on Monday night! You can still show your support by Joining Club 19.5.

Rowland went on to give a very personal note to fans and listeners, saying “As hard as I tried, with over two years in building the network, none of the other programs I carried were able to earn any advertising dollars to support the cost of playing the shows, let alone justify my time in producing the shows live. I had to be present in the studio during all live shows in order to connect and bring them on, monitor the sound, play the breaks, record the show and edit the replay audio files. This time took away from my day and had no financial benefit. But I did it because Art’s show was subsidizing the cost. With the leaving of Art Bell, it doesn’t seem financially viable to continue spending hours a day doing this. So I regret to not being able to produce LIVE versions of these programs after this week.”  Rowland says, “I need to have those 4 hours of day back.”

Rowland spoke briefly at the end of his post regarding Art Bell’s vanishing act, writing,

It is sad that incidents have taken our Art Bell away from us again…. The challenge of bringing Art back was intense and satisfying. But the Dark Matter Digital Network was created and maintained for his return. Now that he is gone… the situation will be fluid and could quickly change.  But I’m willing to get this a shot, if you are. I will update this post as I have more information.

Whether fans are willing to give Wade a shot is something only time travelers–the real ones–will know now.

As the HORROR REPORT has previously reported, major stations have either dropped or are considering dropping the MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT program from their programming schedules. Only a week ago, a giant powerful Texas station picked up Bell. Three days later he stopped doing shows and two after that he quit. Even if the slightest chance exists that a change of mind will occur, it would appear fans have already made their minds up that this is the final time. A much smaller squadron of people are calling for Bell to change his mind. The larger majority this go around appear to either be thanking him for one last round of shows, or criticizing him for his reaction to the alleged shooting occurrences on or near his property since November.

rowland

The entire backbone of the entire operation has been Keith Rowland. Those who have heavily followed the past few years’ worth of goodbyes and comebacks know of previous tension between Art Bell and Rowland over Jimmy Church and other internal matters at the Dark Matter Radio Network. However as time went on, the strength of programming and the signal increased in popularity and ratings.

Rowland is potentially one of the hardest workers to the cause of good programming. It was evident in what he built, despite a number of armchair critics who could not do the same themselves.

Even more, Rowland has been put into a difficult spot: Allegiance for years to a host who has not quit again vs a future of his radio network he took years to build.

Wade enters.
30 days later?
Time will tell who exits.

 

 

POLICE REPORT RELEASED ONLINE IN ART BELL INVESTIGATION

A poster on Facebook released the third police report filed by now FORMER talk show host Art Bell this past week.. Bell himself went on Facebook and copied and pasted the report in total.. from that post:

Thank you whoever posted this, it is the third of (3) reports given. It’s hard to believe I even have to post this, in a prior one a witness saw a Man firing rounds at or near my studio on a dead end street!

Nye County Sheriff’s Office
17 mins ·

PRESS RELEASE:

On 12/09/2015 at approximately 2006 NCSO Dispatch received a 911 call from the wife of Art Bell reporting that he was out walking on the property and he had called her from his cell phone to tell her someone had shot at him and then he stopped responding.

NCSO Deputies responded and checked the area. Art Bell was located laying on the ground of his property with no injuries. He reported to responding deputies that he was not sure if the noise he heard was a firework or gunshot.

Deputies did a thorough check of the area and located no one and also did not locate any evidence of gunshots. Deputies maintained extra patrol in the area over the remainder of the week however nothing was discovered. At this point the investigation is closed unless further information is discovered.

Art

It would appear, according to the report and press release, that the investigation is closed. It also seems to compile data showcasing the hectic and frantic scene that developed when, as Bell said, shots or fireworks were heard near or on his property as he was walking to the location of his show broadcasting location juxtapose to his house in Pahrump, NV..

Several people online, in various places, have expressed doubt in the Bell story, decrying his final quit as a staged attempt to either get ratings or utilize the situation to quit the program. Bell has taken on critics, both on Facebook and on Bellgab. He even called into the Friday MIDNIGHT IN THE DESERT program hosted by Heather Wade to explain why he suddenly quit.

In an earlier message today, Bell stated that when asked about whether he’d come back if the alleged shooter was caught: ” People ask if they catch this person would I come back? Perhaps I would if I was sure it was stopped. There are people saying I made all this up to leave, in what Universe does that make sense? I love what I do.”

But even if a return *(again)* was possible, the major stations who picked up the show have already started to bail. Along with that most likely is a steady stream of people quitting the time traveler club.

DEVELOPING.