George Noory has been the host of Coast to Coast AM on a somewhat permanent basis since April of 2001..
That’s an enormous accomplishment.
It’s to the point where this generation hears the Chase music, they know he will intro the show from the City of Angels or the cave in St. Louis, The more modern audience is largely not at this point able to remember that the late, famous Art Bell as the first and the original Coast host.
Bell was different. We’ve covered him and loved him through the years, but he was chaotic. He gave us famous programming. He was cutting edge, and he did something that no one else was doing at that time. Noory, on the other hand, is reliable instead and now chaotic at aĺl.. he works holidays and for a long time worked weekends until other weekend hosts began to fill in. He’s what the networks execs love… a steady accompkished voice who will be there, except for the occasional moment with pizza rolls burning his throat.
But as time goes on he’s also not what he once was, and even when he was once something different it was not always accepted by the Coast audience.
You have to think back to a time when Art Bell was the voice of the night. Long before podcasts and YouTube videos created the paranormal genre, Bell was the only one. He was the must-listen for night owls, insomniacs, people on night shifts, or those who just wanted to stay up late to listen to good radio. He quit often and came back again. At one point his wife Ramona passed away, and he moved to the Philippines and got remarried. He was organized chaos… mysterious, and reassuring.
In April of 2001, after a few stints from different Coast hosts that were not accepted by the audience, the Nighthawk George Noory became a new voice of the night. He did, of course, have to compete with Bell, who would occasionally host weekends from time to time and also filled in here and there as well.. As a matter of fact, for some of us who were never sure if Bell would be back or not, many people would tune in every night just to see who would enter the show. And when it was Noory, many Bell fans would turn it off.
Bell and Noory would go on to publicly schism a bit in a very public way when Bell left Coast officially after Halloween of 2010. That’s a whole different story that we’ve covered.
But Noory, on the other hand, has been the stalwart. He’s been there. He has been a constant voice on the airwaves at night. As time has gone on, his voice has become a little shaky, his words slur now. There’s a poignant difference between Noory of 2001 and the reality that currently exists in 2026. We ALL AGE..
Now as he gets to his 25th anniversary, he tells others, including Barrett Media, there is no reason to leave.
According to Barrett Media, Noory reflects on his 25-year run as one defined by consistency and longevity, embracing his role as a steady, reliable presence in contrast to Bell’s unpredictability. He points to the evolution of the show into a nationally syndicated staple still heard on hundreds of affiliates, acknowledges the changing media landscape with podcasts and digital platforms now dominating the paranormal space, and makes it clear that he still believes in the format and has no plans to step away anytime soon.
So as you can see from Noory’s own words, whether he’s phoning it in some or not, he’s still there. And he seemingly has no plans to leave.
Things are a lot different now than they were before. Open Minds isn’t so open. Cornelius and a handful of people are the only people who seem to call every night. All the fan sites like Fantastic Forum and places of that nature moved on after Bell’s Midnight in the Desert stopped broadcasting and Bell himself passed away on Friday the 13th in 2018.
Listening to Noory now is a bit sad if you compare him to.the younger version 25 years ago. There are still remnants of the show, whether it’s the intro music or now and then Noory choosing to play Dancing Queen as one of the bumper songs. And while the thunder still rolls before breaks, those breaks are now filled with advertisements for vitamins, dating sites, and other plugs that Noory has created through the years.
Many who still listen seem to like some of the fill-in hosts, like Richard Syrett or Ryan Wrecker, but they’re not the permanent people. Noory still owns the night at 25 years, Coast to Coast AM plays on 600+ affiliates.
Always live.
As radio slowly wanes in popularity, undoubtedly Coast has as well. While no one can say how many more years the show will go on, even the aging and weak-voiced Noory has a limit.
But for 25 years, he has done something very remarkable.
He’s lasted.
And in radio… lasting is the biggest victory of all.
