Art Bell to discuss his future plans Friday

Robert Macy

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 2:48 a.m.

Radio talk show host Art Bell, who surprised his vast audience by signing off Oct. 13, then later hinted he might return, is scheduled to speak to his fans again Friday night.

Bell will "discuss his future" with his "Coast to Coast" and "Dreamland" programs, according to a statement from Premiere Radio Network of Los Angeles, the syndicator of his show.

Bell signed off earlier this month with an announcement that he was quitting broadcasting, citing a "threatening terrible event" that occurred to his family.

But on Monday, Bell announced that he hoped the problem could be resolved and he could return to his show. He refused to say what the event was, only describing it as something that "absolutely requires my full-time attention."

Premiere said Thursday that Bell would appear in the first hour of Friday's show "with an annoucement" about his future. The show airs at 10 p.m. PDT.

Amir Henrickson, media manager for Premiere, said the company and Bell are "working together to see what they can do about bringing him back on the air. Premiere is being supportive of the family situation."

She declined to elaborate on the family matter or say whether it had been resolved.

"It is definitely not a publicity stunt or a contractural ploy," she said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "It was a legitimate resignation for a legitimate family problem."

Bell, 51, said he quit his "Coast-to-Coast" show, the country's most popular overnight radio show, because of the event that occurred one year ago as well as subsequent events.

He said he and his family are in no immediate danger.

"To disclose details of what did occur would have a rather immediate, negative effect on my family, and I will not do that," he said in a broadcast Monday.

Bell, who broadcasts from the small town of Pahrump, 60 miles west of Las Vegas, had cultivated a worldwide audience of insomniacs who offered an earful on theories ranging from space aliens to conspiracies involving the FBI or CIA.

His show reached more than 400 stations nationwide and had 15 million listeners.

Bell said Monday that since his resignation, Premiere had been trying to resolve the situation.

"Frankly, on the night I resigned, I thought it could not be resolved. Now I hope it can, allowing me to return to what I love doing so much. But I need more time," Bell said.

Bell said his decision to quit was not a publicity stunt or a contract ploy.