[abe]

Let's Vote Art Bell & Howard Stern Into The Radio Hall of Fame

National - Active:

Howard Stern, outspoken personality who has changed radio’s landscape, he has established himself as one of the most popular and controversial radio hosts of all time and can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio.


National - Pioneer:

Art Bell, longtime host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM distributed by Premiere Radio Networks.

The national online balloting will begin on May 1st and ends at midnight on July 15th. The voting process will be monitored by Votenet, a highly respected online vote tabulating firm, and results will be ratified by the Steering Committee of the NRHOF.

Voting is free and open to the public as well as major radio industry leaders, however, an online registration will be required and will be available after May 1st.

2008 RHOF Posthumous Inductees and Nominees

Check the link to see the other nominees as well as the Posthumous Inductees.

Art Bell is a living legend and the creator of a whole new genre of radio. If he hadn't created this form of radio SOMEONE would have had to and they wouldn' have done it as well, IMHO. I say that because in an industry where you see "me too's" pop up whenever someone does something different and achieves success, NO ONE has been able to even approach Art's success and devotion from listeners.

Please vote for Art between May 1st and July 15th.

Howard Stern is the King of All Media. Truly.

Successful local radio talk show host. First nationally syndicated so-called "shlock jock". Was Number One in most every market his show was cleared. Had a successful local TV show. Was given a show on E! Network which was a success. He later executive produced "Son of the Beach," a Baywatch parody for the F/X Network. He wrote two best selling books. (Yes, he wrote them himself.) His first book, "Private Parts" became a hit film. He joined with rocker, Rob Zombie, to record a successful song, "The Great American Nightmare" (which opens his radio show every day). He became famous by standing up to censorship and was assessed the largest FCC fines for 'indecency' in FCC history. After his contract expired he signed a contract to go to a new medium, Satellite Radio, where start up company, Sirius Satellite Radio signed him to a $500 Million dollar contract and, apart from his personal salary (which is undisclosed), his stock bonus for boosting paid subscribership above a certain quota earned him a reported $225 Million payday.

And after divorcing his wife of 20-some years and dating around, he is now engaged to fashion model Beth Ostrosky.

He truly is the King of ALL Media and one of a kind.

I urge you to vote for Haward Stern sometime between May 1st and July 15th at a website that shall be made available at the appropriate time.

[turtle777]

-t

[Big Mac]

I'm with you, abe.

[abe]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

I'm with you, abe.

Thanks Big Mac!

You da' man!

[MacosNerd]

I'm with turtle on this one

[design219]

Stern can be funny, but he can also be annoying. And offensive.

I've only heard a little of Bell, but I get the impression he is a nut.

[abe]

Originally Posted by design219 

Stern can be funny, but he can also be annoying. And offensive.

I've only heard a little of Bell, but I get the impression he is a nut.

See how snap judgments can be misleading?

He is far from a nut.

Here is the key to understanding Art Bell's show, he allows the discussion of the paranormal without feeling the need to say to any of his guests, 'you are wrong...your idea is stupid...you are full of crap...you are a nut.'

He gives them AND the people in the audience who happen to believe or else want the chance to learn more about the subjects so they can find out whether or not they believe, an opportunity to present those topics and to hear those topics discussed.

But that's just part of his show.

How many shows have the worlds' leading physicists, astronomers and other men and women of science as regular guests? How many talk show hosts would have these learned people on and interview them without a structured list of questions, just free form casual dialog? Then, how many talk show hosts can make these people feel comfortable yet challenge them and make them feel they aren't wasting their time and still keep the listener engaged?

Art Bell is far from being a nut.

Early life

Bell was born to Arthur Bell, Jr., a United States Marine Corps Captain, and Jane Gumaer Bell, a Marine drill instructor. Arthur Bell, Jr. died in 2000. Art Bell III was always interested in radio and at the age of 13 became a licensed amateur radio operator; previously W2CKS, now W6OBB. Bell served in the U.S. Air Force as a medic during the Vietnam War and, in his free time, operated a pirate radio station at Amarillo Air Force Base. He would go out of his way to play anti-war music (like "Eve of Destruction" and "Fortunate Son") that was not being played on the American Forces Network.[2]

After leaving military service he stayed in Asia, living on the Japanese island of Okinawa where he worked as a disc jockey for KSBK, the only non-military English-language station in Japan. While there, he set a Guinness record by staying on the air for 116 hours and 15 minutes. The money raised there allowed Bell to charter a DC-8, fly to Vietnam, and rescue 130 Vietnamese orphans stranded in Saigon at the war's end. They were eventually brought to the United States and adopted by American families.[3]

Bell returned to the United States and studied engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He dropped out and returned to radio, this time as a board operator and chief engineer, and had a few opportunities to be on the air. For several years he worked behind and in front of the microphone. After a period of working in cable television, in 1989 the 50,000-watt KDWN in Las Vegas, Nevada offered Bell a five-hour time slot in the middle of the night. Syndication of his program to other radio stations began in 1993.

[edit] Broadcasting career

Bell's original Las Vegas program was a political call-in talk radio show, but he tired of the format, believing there were too many such programs, especially in the wake of Rush Limbaugh's huge success.

Bell abandoned conventional political talk in favor of topics such as gun control and conspiracy theories, leading to a significant bump in his overnight ratings. However the show's focus shifted significantly after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Many in the media did not want to be blamed for inciting militia/anti-government actions like the bombing. Subsequently, Bell discussed off-beat topics like the paranormal, occult knowledge, UFOs, protoscience and pseudo-science. During his tenure at KDWN, Bell met and married his second wife, Ramona, who later handled production and management duties for the program.

According to "The Washington Post" in its February 23, 1997 paper: Art Bell is currently America's highest-rated late-night radio talk show, heard on 328 stations. According to "The Oregonian" in its June 22, 1997 paper: Coast To Coast AM with Art Bell is on 460 stations. At its initial peak in popularity, Coast To Coast AM was syndicated on over 500 radio stations, and it claimed 15 million listeners nightly. The show typically has received upwards of 30 million listeners when Bell himself hosted the show.[citation needed] Bell broadcasts from his home in the town of Pahrump, located in Nye County, Nevada, hence, the catchphrase "from the Kingdom of Nye."

[edit] Critical reputation

Radio host Phil Hendrie occasionally lampoons Bell (using the bumper "Dancing Queen" by the pop group ABBA or, occasionally, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston), his guests ("General Johnson Jameson" is a combination of Coast regulars Ed Dames, Al Bielek and Richard C. Hoagland), and the unusual products offered by advertisers. Other observers regard Bell as simply a master showman, noting that he calls his show "absolute entertainment"[4] and that he expressly says that he does not necessarily accept every guest or caller's claims but only offers a forum where they will not be openly ridiculed. Bell was one of only a few talk show hosts who do not screen calls. He began screening calls in 2006, but subsequently returned to unscreened calls in response to a caller's query on the matter.

His calm attitude, patient questions, and ability to tease substance from nebulous statements of callers and guests gave his show a relaxed yet serious atmosphere earning him praise from those who declare the paranormal deserves a mature outlet of discussion in the media, as well as the approval of those simply amused by the nightly parade of bizarre, typically fringe topics. Ed Dames, Richard C. Hoagland, Terence McKenna, Dannion Brinkley, David John Oates and Robert Bigelow have all been regular guests. Some of Bell’s regular guests, particularly Hoagland, continue to be regular guests on Coast to Coast AM, now hosted by George Noory.

Bell's interests, however, extend beyond the paranormal. He has interviewed singers Crystal Gayle, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, comedian George Carlin, writer Dean Koontz, hard science fiction writer Greg Bear, TV talk host Regis Philbin, Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy, actress Jane Seymour, actress Ellen Muth, actor and tv host Robert Stack, human rights lawyer John Loftus, legendary disc jockey Casey Kasem and frequent guests physicist Michio Kaku and SETI astronomers Seth Shostak and H. Paul Shuch.

Art Bell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Chongo]

Bell's original Las Vegas program was a political call-in talk radio show, but he tired of the format, believing there were too many such programs, especially in the wake of Rush Limbaugh's huge success.

The paranormal stuff was originally limited to the Sunday night "Dreamland" show..

[ort888]

Neither should need any help getting in.

[osiris]

Another vote for Art Bell.
Though I'm not a fan of the paranormal stuff, I love when someone like Michio Kaku spends four hours discussing theories.

[abe]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Neither should need any help getting in.

I don't know. There is some pretty stiff competition this year.

Here are the nominess in Howard Stern's category:

National - Active:

# Bob Costas, the host of his own syndicated radio show Costas on the Radio, a weekly two-hour interview show distributed on Premiere Radio Networks and heard on nearly 200 stations and XM Satellite Radio.

# "Focus on the Family", was founded in the mid-1970s by Dr. James Dobson, a psychologist, lecturer, and author; the show is internationally syndicated and heard on over 4,000 stations worldwide.

# Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a no nonsense cultural commentator since 1974, her show is distributed by her own production company to more than 270 stations and can also be heard on XM Satellite Radio.

# Howard Stern, outspoken personality who has changed radio’s landscape, he has established himself as one of the most popular and controversial radio hosts of all time and can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio.

I could make a case for ALL of them.

And as for Art's category:

National - Pioneer:

# Art Bell, longtime host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM distributed by Premiere Radio Networks.

# Ralph Emery, a country music icon, Emery began his career as the late-night disc jockey on country music’s flagship WSM/Nashville.

# “Gang Busters”, law enforcement reality series created by Phillips Lord and hosted by Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf that aired on NBC, ABC, CBS and Mutual.

# Barry Farber, known for his Southern drawl, intensity, and conservative views, he began his on-air career in New York in 1960 and later a national host on ABC.

2008 RHOF Posthumous Inductees and Nominees

I know they have strong and loyal followings, too!

I think it may be tighter than we think.

[abe]

Originally Posted by osiris 

Another vote for Art Bell.
Though I'm not a fan of the paranormal stuff, I love when someone like Michio Kaku spends four hours discussing theories.

Ditto!

Do we all really understand what a treasure this is?

Maybe THE leading physicist on Earth spending hours on the radio talking about ideas and explaining concepts and shedding light on the current breakthroughs and philosophies in science!

Imagine having the chance to listen to Albert Einstein talk and explain his theories.

It is really remarkable when you think about it. But Art and Dr. Kaku just do it like two old pros who mutually respect and like each other and who get together for these occasional discussions.

Wonderful.