The passage of time is strange and painful. Art Bell died in April 2018.. it’s already been years. For those of us who cherished his voice in the dark, it still hurts not having those late-night updates about the “AB’s”—as he used to call them. The silence left in his absence has been deafening.
But tonight, there’s actually a flicker of Art Bell news—and it’s something truly special for long time fans.
The new but old info will bring pages back online under the current Art Bell Legacy website run by Rowland. For longtime fans, this will be like cracking open a time capsule buried deep in the digital sands of the late ’90s and early 2000s.
Fans of the radio host George Noory may have noticed some changes in recent years. Listeners of Coast to Coast AM, many of whom have tuned in faithfully for decades, are well aware that Noory is now well into his 70s.
He has officially hosted the show for 23 years after Art Bell’s retirement *one of them* .. though there were brief periods where other hosts– such as Art Bell as well—took the reins on weekends. Other familiar voices, like the late Ian Punnett and great George Knapp, who still occasionally fills in, have also contributed to the show over the years.
Other newer hosts include Richard Syrett, Rich Berra, Lisa Garr, and Connie Willis.
However, lately, Noory’s voice has noticeably aged. His style has also become slower–you can hear and feel it as you listen. The show is filled with mostly ads that take up the hour, and product placement voice spots between breaks that seemingly are taking over the show.
Niche fans and critics have long debated Noory’s role on Coast to Coast AM, with some arguing he never quite matched the presence or talent of Art Bell. Bell, after all, set a nearly impossible standard to follow. Despite this, Noory has shown remarkable staying power, defying predictions that he would be canceled or replaced by Premiere Radio Networks. Yet, as time passes, some fans have become less inclined to tune in nightly, and Noory’s shaky voice has become harder to ignore.
After listening to the show a show this week, there’s a distinct change in George Noory’s delivery. Words often blur together, sentences lack clarity, and his voice no longer carries the strength it once did. Noory’s broadcasting from St. Louis, rather than Los Angeles, due to the fires in California, but even this shift doesn’t fully explain the noticeable decline. It almost feels as though he’s phoning in the show—and forgetting he’s made the call.
It’s difficult to listen to, and despite past criticisms, it’s sad to hearing the declining vitality of a host who has been the cornerstone of the program for so long. This raises a significant question: What happens when Noory can no longer host the show?
Premiere Radio Networks has seemingly tested potential successors over the years, but none have truly resonated with audiences. At one point, deep-voiced John B. Wells gained traction in the early 2010s, but his tenure was short-lived for reasons never specified publicly by Coast.
As Coast to Coast AM faces this uncertain future, Premiere will soon need to decide how to preserve the show’s legacy.
Art Bell, who passed away in 2018, remains a legendary figure among fans, and his old broadcasts from the 1990s and early 2000s continue to attract a younger audience discovering his work for the first time. Yet, with the current state of the program and the inevitable decline of Noory’s tenure, Coast to Coast AM finds itself at a crossroads.
A decision will have to be made to ensure the dynasty continues, or the show may face an uncertain and diminished future.
There is something about hot midsummer nights and fires–it complements that humid air.. it almost cools the aura around you when you swelter in the orange glow..
Tonight, July 5 2024, the fire was enjoyed by Stormy … and the sounds of Richard Syrett reruns of Coast to Coast AM made it even more perfect..
Enjoy these nights. The wonders of autumn and winter come soon. Days are already shortening..
Stay by that fire. Stay warm even when the heat goes away.
Ian Punnett, who co-hosted the “Ian and Margery Show” with his wife on myTalk 107.1 for a decade, died on Thursday, according to Coast to Coast AM, where he was a podcast host.
His last show on myTalk was Dec. 21, 2012 — 11 years to the day before his death. He left myTalk so he could recover from tinnitus.
At least one X account re-published a video of Ian’s departure in 12/21/12.. And it give you that weird feeling. That creepy feeling..
PLEASE WATCH ENTIRE VIDEO! So is this Predictive Programming? This video was from 2012 of #IanPunnett and it was uploaded 11 years to the day of his death. The song and words overlayed within the video are creepy. Not saying there is anything nefarious… just bizarre. Rest easy… pic.twitter.com/nnm53m7gPs
This one hits hard. Ian Punnett was a friend through the darkness of the night. A radio host, deacon, and professor.. he is dead at a the age of 63.
The Coast to Coast family, both near and extended, have been rocked by news tonight that host, professor, and Deacon, Ian Punnett has left this planet right before Christmas.
From the Coast website, as written by Lisa Lyon:
It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Ian Punnett passed away from a brief illness yesterday. His keen intellect and delightful sense of humor will be deeply missed. Since 2000, Ian has, in various incarnations, been a valued host of Coast to Coast AM, including regular weekend hosting duties, his own spin-off show Coast to Coast LIVE with Ian Punnett, a podcast entitled Vaudeville for the Frightened, and most recently twice a month hosting duties.
I’ve had the privilege of producing for Ian these past 24 years, and I will miss our friendship and the professional collaboration. Every conversation behind the scenes was as lively and entertaining and everything we strive for on the air. Ian was great radio personified.
Since Art Bell’s demise in 2018, Punnett was the last connection to the “old days“. He gave us memorable programs, great radio. And the horse guy! And for those who knew him personally, he was a friend and mentor along with a professor and someone who had a deep religious conviction. I was lucky enough to be able to say I talked to him briefly on a few occasions and he was a class act.
Coast to Coast just got a whole lot less interesting. And the world a much less interesting place.
It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Ian Punnett passed away from a brief illness yesterday. His keen intellect and delightful sense of humor will be deeply missed. Since 2000, Ian has been a valued host of C2C. https://t.co/BhcVkw7ISm
In honor of a life well lived, we share with sadness and grief that our Chief Operator Dr. Ian Punnett passed away early this morning. After fighting an illness for the last few months Ian passed peacefully surrounded by his wife and son. Words cannot capture the essence of Ian’s… pic.twitter.com/USjLlO5yEQ
Longtime radio personality Ian Punnett has died. Ian has been part of the Coast to Coast AM broadcast family for many years. C2C staff was informed earlier today.
I just learned that #IanPunnett, the @coasttocoastam Saturday host that I replaced for a couple of years, has passed away after a short illness. Many people will miss him. Including me. May he rest in the house of our Heavenly Father.#GoodByeIan@deaconpunnett…
Whitley Strieber was first to talk about the COMING GLOBAL SUPERSTORM, but then freaky Christmastime ghosts took over afterwards for the duration of the show .. Brendan Cook and Barbara McBeth shared their EVP recordings..
Cook and McBeth were guests so often–but for some reason this exact show sticks out in my memory..
I recall that night I was listening to it, the Christmas season after 9/11.. we were all freaked out by the mass death that occurred just months prior. Twenty years later the mass death of a virus has far exceed that which occurred in 2001…
Also I think–just a fading memory–that I listened to this Art Bell show partially on the car radio coming home from a bar or bowling that night and finishing up at home …
And I recall listening until the sun came up…
20 years ago. So many years ago, but seemingly like just yesterday.
One of the most amazing parts about Art airing the ghost EVPs is that they were credible –at least on his show– and his reactions were just as all of ours would have been. What were these voices in the night, in the darkness. Did these strange voices mean anything? Were they from beyond.. are they stuck here? Art seemed to get so freaked out during these EVP sessions. 20 years later as we listen here at Horror Report central, we are confronted with the same chills that we had that very night December 2001…
On a personal note, so much changes in 20 years. My mom, now deceased for only weeks, was alive then. We were preparing for Christmas with family that were young and now old, and those who exist now did not then. Our national crisis of 9/11 then is a global pandemic of COVID in ’21..
Twas the best of times. And the worst of times.
And Art Bell listening to a child’s EVP saying “stay with me” in the darkness of the night is as scary in 2021 as it was in 2001..
Almost a year since the famed radio talk show host died of a drug overdose on Friday the 13th, a bench –a bench– will soon be dedicated in his honor in Pahrump Nevada.. But thanks to events on social media online, it’s not without controversy…
‘On The Fringe Friends of Heather Wade FaceBook Group’, which is now known as Paranormal Pandemonium received approval from Nye County to have a bench erected in Calvada Eye Park.
The bench would have a bronze plaque attached to it, with a picture of Art Bell, and his popular catch phrase, “Wanna Take A Ride?”
What is the controversy over an obscure park bench, you ponder?
Bell fans on both sides reacting, was at the bottom of the plaque where it referenced the Facebook group’s name, which included Bell’s successor, Heather Wade’s name.
As plans for Bell’s memorial bench circulated within the late-night, UFO, and paranormal community, other Art Bell fans, who have not been pleased with, nor supportive of the manner in which his Midnight In The Desert Radio Show was handled after he died, felt the names on the plaque would dishonor Bell’s memory, and most of all, upset his widow and their children. Contacts were made to the Nye County Licensing Department, acknowledging procedures which had been followed by the FaceBook group, and subsequent approval of their request to have the bench erected. When asked if approval for erecting Mr Bell’s memorial bench had been rescinded in any way, the response was negative. A person from Nye County who could speak on this subject stated to the SOR News Wire, ”Approval has not been rescinded; however, I have contacted a close family friend, and the family themselves, in an effort to make sure their wishes are respected. The County will not place a memorial with any one group named as a contributor (aside from itself).” Nye County is hoping to have the bench erected with an approved plaque by the first anniversary of Art Bell’s death. But it appears the Heather Wade FaceBook group’s name will not be placed on the plaque as a contributor. The county believes the bench will be a fitting memorial for their world wide celebrity who impacted late night radio into millions of fans and listeners.
And now almost a year since Bell passed away, his protege has vanished as well…
Art Bell calmly prided himself as a voice within the darkness of the night to be mysterious and reassuring.. Nothing since his untimely passing has been anything but…
TOAST TO TOAST AM: Wells hits Noory over 2014 oust
JOHN B WELLS HITS NOORY ON CENSORSHIP! COAST TO TOAST AM!
Outspoken radio host John B. Wells became a weekend host sensation during the early 2000teens … Coast to Coast AM hired him on as the official weekend host … However, as Wells began treading controversial waters for the program’s PREMIERE RADIO NETWORK heads, the safer Noory decided to toss Wells to the side..
TODAY as George Noory goes on the Alex Jones radio show, Wells has pointed out hypocrisy..
From the host:
So Noory goes on Infowars with Alex to discuss “censorship” today…
Well I guess he should know all about that after he censored me off C2C in Feb 2014 the moment I started talking about global communism and criticized Obama… What hypocrisy and then he says he’s a dem… go figure
And a screen shot for posterity..
The midnight express ain’t what it used to be… taking a ride sure got boring when BELL left in ‘10… And WELLS as well only a few years later when he began to outshine NOORY at his own game.
I have long been a fan of Wells–despite so often disagreeing with him. He was .. at least.. interesting and off the beaten path.
His interests would have transformed the show away from what Bell created in the 90s and 2000s… maybe that is why Noory got rid of him?
Nah..
I call on some more sublte plans: Wells was getting more popular than Noory.
Now that IAN PUNNETT has returned from time to time, if his star outshines the full time host, expect a lack of seeing Ian on the roster..
It’s just how things work out in the LA studios..
I wrote this in 2014 when WELLS left the post:
He is now going on in life to host his own internet show called the CARAVAN TO MIDNIGHT. Sadly it will be on during the midday–and also sadly for him, his show has been marred with technical difficulties that has stopped him from broadcasting when he said he would. Some say Premiere conspired against him.. Some said the same for Art Bell when suddenly, out of no where, Sirius radio announced that Coast would take over Bell’s spot after his short stint on satellite..
Premiere and conservative radio is a big Juggernaut. Premiere may be happy with the lunatics and drunks that listen to Noory.. and maybe they were getting a little unsettled with the knowledgeable and questioning souls that tuned into Wells..
And Art Bell? Well..he plans on coming back in 2015 with his own online show. Maybe it won’t be a Caravan to Midnight.. but it’s always midnight in the desert…
Art Bell died in 2018… Coast to Coast was on life support from 2010 to 2014, and passed away soon after.
Only a minister named Ian Punnett can bring it back from the lifelessness it has succumbed to in the middle of the night.
The TIMES’ tone seemed positive.. but also nostalgic for the predecessor.. From the text:
Given the size of its audience, the show might be expected to cover topics squarely in the mainstream. But Mr. Noory’s listeners, whom he refers to as “the night people,” tend to focus more on fringier fare, whether it’s U.F.O. sightings near Area 51 or the myriad conspiracy theories that Mr. Noory’s predecessor, Art Bell, established as signatures of the program.
……
“Coast to Coast” began in 1984 as a talk radio program broadcasting from the Las Vegas station KDWN. Mr. Bell, its founder and first host, had originally been a D.J. He switched his focus to talk radio at a time when music listeners began to favor higher-fidelity FM stations, forcing many AM channels to switch formats. When “Coast to Coast” went national, in 1992, he started to receive calls from listeners about their paranormal experiences. Those calls soon became the show’s trademark.
When Mr. Bell left the show, he advised Mr. Noory not to imitate his hosting style, which gave listeners the (accurate) sense that he was broadcasting from a compound in the desert. He was isolated from his audience and occasionally confrontational with callers.
On one call from a man claiming to have worked for Area 51, Mr. Bell made his suspicion known right away: “Well, look, let’s begin by finding out whether you’re using this line properly or not.” And on Oct. 13, 1998, Mr. Bell signed off by saying: “This is it, folks. I’m going off the air and will not return.” When Mr. Noory took over, after his forerunner returned and vanished from the show a few more times, listeners noticed a shift in tone, from skeptical and sometimes critical to open-minded and kind.
“Art was a little more, if he thought you were loo-la, he would tell you,” said Veronica Costin, who started tuning in during the 1990s. It became a ritual for her: drifting off in her San Antonio bedroom to the sounds of faraway voices.
….I think it sounds like Bell had a fandom in the TIMES’ press room.. perhaps those late nights burning the fish wrapper oil with Bell in the background yelling at callers with insanity.. ?
Back to the present time: Noory is given some kind words as well from the TIMES article.. But one section pointed out just how different Bell and Noory actually are.. even reminding readers that Noory appears on Alex Jones’ radio show.. And a little product placement as well:
Each episode of “Coast to Coast” begins with a news segment, but when asked if he saw himself as a journalist, Mr. Noory responded that he was “a facilitator of the truth, wherever that takes us.”
His audience seems to see him as an authoritative, unifying force at a time when the country appears more fragmented than ever. Through his radio show, live events and two dating sites — Paranormal Date and Conspiracy Date — he acts as a connector and a surrogate for his listeners, whom he considers extended family. (Mr. Noory has three children and six grandchildren. He is private about his relationship status.)
Nearly 200 stations have added “Coast to Coast” in the last 18 months. One is WABC. The station’s late-night ratings have increased 30 percent, to 8.9 percent of the audience, since November. “I saw the numbers from across the country,” said Phil Boyce, WABC’s program director. “I wanted to get on that freight train.”
