Coast
to Coast AM is a late-night
syndicated radio talk
show which deals with
a variety of topics, but
usually ones that relate
to the paranormal. 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
and Art Bell (broadcasting
from Manila in the Philippines)
on the weekends.
Coast
to Coast mostly emphasizes
very unusual topics, and
is full of personal stories
related by callers. While
program content varies,
most nights are focused
towards 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 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. However,
more conventional topics
are sometimes discussed,
with interviews with notable
authors and political
talk sometimes featured.
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, 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, roundtable
discussions are held on
one of the show's common
topics. Since Art Bell
has resumed weekend hosting
from the Philippines,
he has focused on scientific
topics.
During
hours of "open phone
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.
The shows opening, which
is now famous, had been
spoofed on the now defunct
nationally-syndicated
Phil Hendrie Show, with
Hendrie imitating Mitchell's
trademark deep voice and
repeating his one phone
number for all four lines.
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 becomes Ghost
to Ghost, 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.
Coast
to Coast 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
weeknight from 1:00 AM
to 5:00 AM Pacific Time,
live from the KDWN studios
in the Plaza Hotel in
downtown Las Vegas. In
addition to his show,
Bell did radio commercials
and other voiceover 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.
Art Bell's first 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 broadcast
on Sunday, January 22,
2006], that he needed
to keep busy. On April
8, 2006, concluding several
weeks 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 has had difficulties
with an ISDN line and
hosts weekends as technology
permits. Otherwise, George
Noory substitute hosts
the Sunday versions or
a tape is played of a
previous show. Saturdays
are guest hosted when
Bell is unavailable. On
Saturday from 9 pm to
1 am Eastern Time, Punnett
hosts Coast to Coast Live,
a spin-off of the original
Coast to Coast AM, covering
similar topics. He occasionally
hosts the regular Saturday
edition of Coast to Coast
as well, making an eight
hour shift.
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 reponses 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; 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, shamen, the
witch doctorate, and assorted
prophets. Recently, Noory
retracted that statement
and now says that he will
stay until he is "dragged
out."
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 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.
Other
Coast To Coast AM greats
To Listen for:
Ian
Punnett has been exploring
the night regularly on
Coast to Coast AM since
1998. Punnett is what
many call the shinning
the star of the program.
Witty and fun to listen
to. In fact, if Coast
to Coast were a branch
of the military, Ian would
be a veteran reservist
having served alongside
every Coast to Coast host
in the show's history.
For years, even while
performing his own daily
talk show and attending
seminary, Ian hosted Sunday
night's "Coast to
Coast AM with Ian Punnett"
until leaving for a new
talk radio project in
the Twin Cities and making
way for George Noory.
George
Knapp is a 14-time Emmy
Award-winning journalist
whose reporting on Nevada’s
infamous Area 51 military
base was selected by UPI
as Best Individual Achievement
by a Reporter (1989).
Other awards include the
Associated Press’s
Mark Twain Award for news
writing and the Edward
R. Murrow Award for Investigative
Reporting. George is an
anchor and reporter for
the CBS affiliate KLAS-TV
in Las Vegas and he also
writes a weekly column
for a Las Vegas newspaper.
Additionally, George
hosts Coast to Coast AM
on the third and fourth
Sundays of the month.
The
radio show publishes a
newsletter for subscribers
called After Dark. It
discusses matters covered
on the show in greater
detail.
ACCEPT
NO HAUNTED IMITATIONS!!!
Official
Web Site www.coasttocoastam.com