Coast to Coast AM

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Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM with George Noory
GenreTalk show
Running time4 hours (per episode, every day)
Country of originUnited States United States
Home stationPremiere Radio Networks
500+ radio station affiliates
StarringGeorge Noory (weeknights, first Sunday of the month)
Ian Punnett (Saturdays)
Art Bell (fill-in, New Year's Eve)
Created byArt Bell
Original releasemid-1980s –
present
Opening themeMidnight Express--The Chase by Giorgio Moroder
Ending themeInca Dance by Cusco
Websitewww.coasttocoastam.com
PodcastStreamlink

Coast to Coast AM is a late-night syndicated radio talk show in the United States which deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate either to the paranormal, or to alleged conspiracies. It was created by Art Bell, airs seven nights a week 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. It is currently hosted by George Noory weekdays. With Art Bell's retirement, Ian Punnett will host Saturday nights, while Sunday nights will be a combination of re-runs and an occasional guest host.

Format and subject matter

Coast to Coast AM mostly emphasizes very unusual topics, and is full of personal stories related by callers. While program content varies, most nights are focused toward the paranormal, and subjects such as the occult, remote viewing, hauntings, shadow people, psychic predictions, conspiracy theories, UFOs, crop circles, cryptozoology and science fiction literature, among other paranormal and unusual topics. Since the terrorist attacks carried out in the United States on September 11, 2001, the events of that day (as well as conspiracy theories surrounding them) and current U.S. counter-terrorism strategy have also become frequent themes. More conventional topics are sometimes discussed, with interviews with notable authors and political talk sometimes featured. However, many listeners find that the hosts often fail to question guests critically, particularly during discussions of unconventional or disputed topics. That is, some critics feel that the show focuses largely on entertaining ideas, and lacks an adequate effort to investigative objectively.

After the theme song is played (Giorgio Moroder's The Chase from Midnight Express), the broadcast is typically kicked off with a reading of current events or news stories by the host, usually with at least one bizarre or peculiar story, with callers weighing in if time permits. This is usually followed by a lengthy interview with the evening's guest, or hours of open phone lines. Occasionally, round table discussions are held on one of the show's common topics.

During hours of "open lines", calls are taken and put on air without any screening, at least according to original host Art Bell. More recently, under George Noory, open lines have added topics for callers to share their experiences or stories about a particular issue or situation. The show has multiple call-in numbers, of which there are always at least five (as of 2005): for "east of the Rockies", "west of the Rockies", first-time callers, "international callers" and finally a "wild card" line. They are all announced at the beginning of each broadcast by Ross Mitchell. On special occasions, Coast to Coast AM rolls out more numbers, including lines that are reserved for special "themed" callers, for example those who claim to be from other dimensions, time periods, and those possessed by spirits.

The Halloween edition of Coast to Coast AM becomes Ghost to Ghost AM, as listeners call in with their ghost stories. The New Year's Eve show usually entails listeners calling in their predictions for the coming year, and the host (commonly Art Bell) rating the predictions made a year earlier. In recent years, the host of the New Year's Eve prediction show preface open line predictions that callers may not predict the assassination or death of the US president. Apparently such predictions made in the past have resulted in visits from the Secret Service to the host's home.

Hosts

Coast to Coast AM was created by veteran broadcaster Art Bell in the mid-1980s. Originally called West Coast AM, it aired on Las Vegas, Nevada radio station KDWN 720. Bell hosted the program each weekday morning from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM Pacific Time, live from the KDWN studios in the Union Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. In addition to his show, Bell did radio commercials and other voice over work for the station.

Bell's program was syndicated in 1990 as Coast to Coast AM and began airing on more stations. For a while it still kept the 1:00 AM starting time, but then moved to 11:00 PM to 3:00 AM and then to the present 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM schedule to better serve other time zones. Soon, Bell hosted the program every weeknight and Sundays from his residence in the town of Pahrump, located in Nye County, Nevada (often referred to on the program as The Kingdom of Nye). Bell is a skilled interviewer, drawing out his callers' improbable stories with a poker-faced but confidence-inspiring, "Oh, really?" He has retired and returned to the show many times since 1998; the first "retirement" lasted two weeks, and was brought on by alleged threats against his family. Late in 1999, Hilly Rose subbed for Art Bell, interviewing the computer hacker responsible for stopping all Amtrak Trains over Y2K (2000), but Art Bell's first actual successor as host of Coast to Coast was Mike Siegel.

In 2001 , Siegel stepped down as host due to pressure from Premiere Radio Networks and Bell, as ratings and affiliates fell sharply during his tenure. Bell then returned to weekday hosting duties, only to depart again the following year due to chronic back pain. He was replaced by frequent guest-host George Noory, and the weekday program officially became Coast to Coast AM with George Noory by the end of 2002.

Bell made another comeback in 2003 , this time replacing Barbara Simpson and Ian Punnett on the weekend broadcasts. Then in June 2005, he announced that he would be reducing his role to just two Sundays a month to leave more time for traveling with his wife. He also disclosed that Ian Punnett and Hilly Rose would take over the new vacancies. Previously, Rose had been a frequent guest-host of the program, and Punnett had regularly hosted Sunday evening broadcasts years ago. However, following the passing of his wife, Ramona Bell, on January 5, 2006, Art decided to return to the air on Saturdays and Sundays, stating in an emotion-filled[1] broadcast on Sunday, January 22, 2006, that he needed to keep busy. On April 8, 2006, concluding several months of mourning, Art Bell, 60, married 21 year old Airyn Ruiz, a resident of the Philippines whom he came to know through internet "dating." Art relocated to the Philippines and resumed hosting the show as of June 15, 2006, but often had difficulties with an ISDN line and hosted weekends as technology permitted. Otherwise, either George Noory substituted the Sunday edition or a previous show was re-ran. Saturdays were guest hosted when Bell was unavailable. On Saturday from 9 pm to 1 am Eastern Time, Punnett hosts Coast To Coast Live (see below), a spin-off of the original Coast to Coast AM. American voice artist John B. Wells guest hosted the program on two separate occasions: December 19, 2005 and June 15, 2007 where he interviewed author Ray Bradbury followed by a night of open phone lines in which many callers praised his stint as guest host.

On the Thursday Dec. 28th, 2006 show, Art Bell, filling in for the vacationing George Noory, announced that he was once again broadcasting from his longtime hometown of Pahrump, in Nye County, Nevada. He and his new wife Airyn made the flight from Manila to the US; his return to the US was kept secret. During his 8 month stay in the Philippines, Art married Airyn, is now expecting a baby and Airyn is awaiting her status as a legal resident of the US. On the same day, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale occurred in Tae-Won, sending a 3 ft. Tsunami towards the Philippines islands. Had Art not left Manila at the time he did, he would not have been able to do the Dec. 28th, 2006 show as all communications to the Philippines were cut off, including the ISDN line that Bell used to send his broadcast to the US.

Bell stated that he "has no interest in returning to a 5-day work schedule" and would remain the Coast to Coast AM's Saturday and Sunday night host. Art's return sparked a deluge of "welcome back calls" from callers across North America. Many callers stated that they were shocked and pleasantly surprised at Art's return to the US. Eight months allowed Bell to acclimatize to the 90° weather and 100% humidity encountered in the Philippines. Airyn being a Filipino native along with Art, were simply shocked by the 39°F temperature and the 55mph winds as they deplaned in the US. Art decided to leave his HAM (amateur) radio equipment in the Philippines as checking it at customs on his flight to the Philippines was a difficulty he wanted to avoid on his way back to the US.

On Sunday, July 1, 2007, Art Bell announced his retirement from the weekend broadcasts, "for the final time." However, he stated that he would continue his association with Premiere Radio, and would occasionally guest host for the show. Ian Punnett, host of Coast to Coast Live, replaced him for the Saturday broadcasts, George Noory replaced him for the first Sunday of each month, with guest hosts taking over the remaining spots.

George Noory remains host of the weeknight editions. He broadcasts from, alternately, Los Angeles, California and St. Louis, Missouri, and has had a continually positive effect on the program's ratings. He is consistently nonjudgmental in his responses to callers' comments, seemingly accepting at face value the credibility of their reported experience. He has promised listeners that he will "stick around" to host the show through 2012 (recently, Noory retracted that statement; he now says that he will stay until he is "dragged out"); his wish is to report on whatever might occur in relation to the many predictions of the world ending (or at least changing significantly) that year, as purportedly anticipated by the Mayan calendar, alleged bible code, and a number of spiritualist and other fantasy writers, prognosticators, predictors, shamans, the witch doctorate, and assorted prophets.

Broadcast area

Coast to Coast is broadcast on 500+ United States affiliates, as well as numerous Canadian affiliates, several of which stream the show on their station's website. Coast to Coast's Streamlink offers live Internet feeds of the show by subscription. The program is also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio in the United States, on Talk Radio 165. Currently, the XM channel is not available to XM Radio Canada subscribers due to CanCon regulations limiting content produced outside of Canada. In addition, XM's operational assistance agreement with Clear Channel provides the satcaster with exclusive rights to all Clear Channel content, and doesn't permit the broadcast of Coast to Coast AM on competitor Sirius Satellite Radio.

Frequent guests

  • Loren Coleman Discussing the subjects of new animal discoveries and the sightings of Bigfoot, Yeti, Nessie, and other cryptids, in a down-to-earth fashion. This cryptozoologist and author has been a program guest over a dozen times.
  • Rosemary Ellen Guiley an expert on paranormal, visionary, and spiritual topics. A frequent guest since 1997.
  • Richard C. Hoagland - A controversial psuedoscientist in issues relating to NASA's activities, space anomalies and alleged extraterrestrial architecture (the Face on Mars, structures on the Moon, anomalies in the moons of Jupiter and Saturn)
  • Alex Jones - An American radio host, conspiracy theorist, and filmmaker.
  • Michio Kaku - A mainstream theoretical physicist. Dr. Kaku is typically drawn into discussions that find him explaining string theory, quantum physics, astrophysics, and other hard sciences in easily understandable and very entertaining ways.
  • Dr. Evelyn Paglini - A parapsychologist who is a self promoted psychic and witch.
  • Lionel Fanthorpe - Lionel Fanthorpe was born in England and has worked as a journalist and teacher. He is currently Director of Media Studies at Cardiff Academy and claims to be a fully ordained Anglican Priest working part-time and unpaid for the Church in Wales. Lionel is President of ASSAP (the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) and is also the President of BUFORA (the British UFO Research Association). He's now a popular TV and Radio presenter and celebrity guest on chat shows. Lionel is also the author of over 250 books.
  • Linda Moulton Howe - A reporter and UFOlogist who is often interviewed on Coast to Coast AM, and segments of her audio and video presentations are often played on the show. The most common subjects discussed by Linda Moulton Howe relate to astronomy and unidentified flying object sightings, but more recently she has also discussed agricultural phenomena involving systemic pesticides and their suspected effects on moths and honeybees, including the colony collapse disorder reported in the United States, Spain, and Poland.
  • Peter Davenport (UfologiAt) - Head of the National UFO Reporting Center. He is the one that has reported really famous UFO incidents, such as the Phoenix Lights and the Chicago O' Hare Airport UFO Incident, Flying triangle UFO reports, other UFO/Alien matters, official/military responses to these matters. [citation needed]

Popular callers

Below is a list of some widely popular or regular listener callers to the show.

  • J.C. Webster the Third, or "J.C." – Also an occasional guest. J.C. began calling in 1996, and has since been on the air over 40 times.[2] He features himself to be a Revival Baptist preacher, and the leader of "C.L.A.M.P.," the Christian Legion Against Media Pornography. He claims to be in "direct communication with the Lord," transcribing God's "New Revelation" and "New Commandments," with his proclaimed mission being "to save America." J.C.'s contact information is held private by Coast to Coast AM in anticipation of scheduling future interviews and debates.
  • Oscar, a self-proclaimed demonic entity.[3]
  • Mel Waters - Former "owner" of Mel's Hole, a "bottomless" pit.
  • "Bugs" - Aging farmer who has repeatedly told of his account of shooting and burying two Bigfoot creatures back in the 1970s, in the Texas Panhandle, initially thinking they were bears Bugs has mailed a map of the location of this "burial" to Art Bell, to be released to the public upon Bugs' death..[4]

Dreamland

Dreamland was another Art Bell creation, nearly identical to Coast-to-Coast AM but less caller driven. Bell hosted Dreamland on early Sunday evenings, until he relinquished control of the show to Whitley Strieber. It continued to precede Coast-to-Coast AM on most affiliate stations on Sunday nights but moved to Saturday night (after Premiere Radio began to syndicate Matt Drudge) and then dropped the program entirely. It is now heard over the Internet[1] exclusively.

Dreamland continues to focus on many of the same topics as its sister program, although often with a more spiritual point-of-view, as well as an increased emphasis on extra-terrestrials.

The name Dreamland was, in fact, at one time a radio call sign for the control tower at the The Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada, as described by the government in legal documents, but more commonly known as Area 51.

Coast to Coast Live

On Saturdays from 9 pm to 1 am Eastern Time, Ian Punnett hosted Coast To Coast Live. A spin-off of the original Coast to Coast AM, the show covered similar topics as its flagship program. With Art Bell's retirement, C2CLive was discontinued due to Punnett hosting the regular Saturday edition.

Newsletter

The radio show publishes a newsletter for subscribers called After Dark. It discusses matters covered on the show in greater detail.

References in popular culture

Coast to Coast AM is spoofed in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as a radio segment on WCTR aptly-named Area 53. Area 53's host and callers would make ludicrous claims, such as video games giving people malaria, or cheese being the "new weapon in the fight against communism". The show's slogan is "Prepare to be appalled!".

In 2006, Bell was featured in the video game "Prey" and played himself. He hosts, as in real life, Coast to Coast AM, and the player is able to listen to the broadcast at several terminals throughout the game. The broadcasts detail what is happening on Earth during the time of the game.

Sean Hogan released a song in 2006, on his album "Catalina Sunrise," called "Conspiracy Radio" about Coast to Coast AM and Art Bell. An excerpt of one show is used in the song "Faaip de Oiad" by the band Tool. The song samples a frantic call from a supposed employee from Area 51.

See also

References

  1. ^ "coasttocoastam". January 22 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ http://deepspire.com/jc-webster
  3. ^ "coasttocoastam". February 24 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "coasttocoastam". April 08 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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