The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » John Oakley Announces He's Leaving AM640 At The End Of This Week

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 4:08 pm

This is his final week on the station, after 46 years in the biz. His last show will be Friday.

It's not clear if he's leaving the business, retiring altogether or going into something else. No word yet on a replacement, but it's been a while since there's been an opening in afternoon drive in Toronto.

I guess it's not a good day for talk radio...

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 4:22 pm

Any guesses on his replacement?

Radiowiz · November 24, 2025 4:29 pm

Alex, no doubt, but that's still just a guess...

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 4:31 pm

Interesting guess. That would leave her shift open for Brad Smith, if it comes to that.

RadioAaron · November 24, 2025 4:39 pm

The real question is: How long will he remain on the website?

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 4:43 pm

Have they taken Stafford off yet?

AspectRatio · November 24, 2025 4:43 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Any guesses on his replacement?

Mike Stafford and Supriya Dwivedi in an "all is forgiven", drive-time show?

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 4:45 pm

Toronto Mike has a nice recap of the stations where he's worked over the years.

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 4:50 pm

I wonder - since Ben Mulroney is a relatively well known name, could they give him the afternoon drive slot? His show airs on other Corus stations later in the day and this might help it become a little more up-to-date, instead of about 12 hours lapsing from when it originally airs. Just idle speculation.

RadioActive · November 24, 2025 5:21 pm

Broadcast Dialogue now has the story up on its site, with a statement from Corus.

Check out the last sentence.

"Corus said more details around its talk lineup will be released in the coming weeks."

Hmmm. Does that mean more than just Oakley's shift is changing?

John Oakley to sign off from 640 Toronto

torontostan · November 24, 2025 5:59 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Hmmm. Does that mean more than just Oakley's shift is changing?

No, it means they will re-shuffle the lineup rather than hire someone

Binson Echorec · November 24, 2025 6:31 pm

torontostan wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Hmmm. Does that mean more than just Oakley's shift is changing?
No, it means they will re-shuffle the lineup rather than hire someone

I expect three 4-hour shows, no need to hire a replacement.

Brady 6a-10a
Alex 10a-2p
Ben 2p-6p

Last edited by Binson Echorec (November 24, 2025 6:32 pm)

Radiowiz · November 24, 2025 11:54 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
torontostan wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Hmmm. Does that mean more than just Oakley's shift is changing?
No, it means they will re-shuffle the lineup rather than hire someone
I expect three 4-hour shows, no need to hire a replacement.

Brady 6a-10a
Alex 10a-2p
Ben 2p-6p

Would it be any shock or surprise if Ben moves to mornings and Brady accepts afternoon drive?
I'm still throwing it out there that Alex will be the new afternoon drive, but again, purely a guess...

Chrisphen · November 25, 2025 2:50 am

Perhaps he's leaving to spend more time with the Ford family.

Walter · November 25, 2025 4:16 am

Heard Oakley's show today. He sounded giddy, and not at all like someone who didn't see this coming, or unhappy with his retirement arrangement. Good for him.

jughead jones · November 25, 2025 6:47 am

Congratulations, my friend, on a remarkable radio career. It has been a great four and a half decades of talk radio.

RadioActive · November 25, 2025 6:49 am

Greg Brady paid tribute to him and talked about Oakley leaving the station during his 5:30 AM early segment. Still no hint of what might come after him, why he's leaving or how it will affect the line-up. But it appears to have been his choice, or they would almost certainly not have let him do a final week.

RadioAaron · November 25, 2025 8:46 am

RadioActive wrote:
Greg Brady paid tribute to him and talked about Oakley leaving the station during his 5:30 AM early segment. Still no hint of what might come after him, why he's leaving or how it will affect the line-up. But it appears to have been his choice, or they would almost certainly not have let him do a final week.

Hosts and managers close to retirement age often get to control the narrative when leaving involuntarily.

gch · November 25, 2025 9:24 am

Yes, I remember when Bob McCown "retired" from the Fan 590 a few years ago, it was rather sudden, although he was allowed to finish out the week......I think they bought him out, but am not sure

Aytononline · November 25, 2025 9:43 am

On Friday John Oakley retires. On the following Monday who will be the longest on air person in talk radio in Toronto. I am thinking about CFRB, 680 News and AM640.

RadioAaron · November 25, 2025 11:09 am

Aytononline wrote:
On Friday John Oakley retires. On the following Monday who will be the longest on air person in talk radio in Toronto. I am thinking about CFRB, 680 News and AM640.

Paul Cook?

Binson Echorec · November 25, 2025 12:44 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
Aytononline wrote:
On Friday John Oakley retires. On the following Monday who will be the longest on air person in talk radio in Toronto. I am thinking about CFRB, 680 News and AM640.
Paul Cook?

This name immediately popped into my head.

I laid out a possible lineup earlier, I don't really care who is in which daypart but I do expect Corus to go with the 3x4-hour layout. It's the move that makes business sense/cents.

RadioAaron · November 25, 2025 1:14 pm

If Mulroney does end up on drive (and I agree that's likely) he's going to have to pivot his content inwards. You gotta be local in the drive times.

Paul Jeffries · November 25, 2025 3:30 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Greg Brady paid tribute to him and talked about Oakley leaving the station during his 5:30 AM early segment. Still no hint of what might come after him, why he's leaving or how it will affect the line-up. But it appears to have been his choice, or they would almost certainly not have let him do a final week.
Hosts and managers close to retirement age often get to control the narrative when leaving involuntarily.

Still, it's as good as "leaving on your own terms" as you're probably going to get nowadays in the radio biz.

PJ

RadioActive · November 25, 2025 4:27 pm

You don't have to like Oakley to enjoy his review of the stations he worked at, including CJOY (who knew?) and CJCL. Rarely does a radio host talk so much about the places on his resume.

Leslieville Bill · November 25, 2025 5:34 pm

Congratulations to John on staying alive for so long in the Toronto radio market.

I wonder if he's considered a part-time, retirement job at High Street Fish And Chips?

Walter · November 25, 2025 5:39 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
If Mulroney does end up on drive (and I agree that's likely) he's going to have to pivot his content inwards. You gotta be local in the drive times.

You mean he won't be able to concentrate on Israel v. Palestine 80% of the time? Good.

RadioActive · November 25, 2025 5:52 pm

The problem is that he's syndicated, if you will, with other Corus stations. That's why the first hour of his show is mainly local, followed by more national or international topics - those last two hours air on stations in the west. So all local won't work if they hope to keep doing that.

RadioAaron · November 25, 2025 5:56 pm

RadioActive wrote:
The problem is that he's syndicated, if you will, with other Corus stations. That's why the first hour of his show is mainly local, followed by more national or international topics - those last two hours air on stations in the west. So all local won't work if they hope to keep doing that.

He could do national 2-4, but absolutely has to be local 4-6.

RadioActive · November 25, 2025 6:22 pm

Yeah, that could work, but it would flip his current format on its head. I still think putting him in the afternoons makes sense, since he's arguably their biggest name - and he's kind of a waste in the 9AM-noon slot.