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John Oakley was replaced by Arlene Bynon on AM 640 Tuesday afternoon, which is not all that unusual. But I suspect whatever happened wasn't something they were expecting and it may have been last minute.
The drive home show was an obvious hodge-podge reroll of a previous show (or shows), and thus unable to address a host of huge breaking stories, including the Ontario Science Centre relocation, the Leafs first playoff game, the Prime Minister's controversial Jamaica trip that has his critics up in arms, the last-minute Fox News settlement, the Ontario government taking a freedom of information case to court and a whole lot more.
It's been a while since there's been so much true "breaking news" in just a few hours, and for a talk station, AM 640 was unable to discuss any of it. And there was no "Topics Worthy Of Discussion" segment at 5:30, replaced instead by a generic conversation with a space expert.
Maybe they shouldn't have fired Peter Shurman after all!
I have no idea what happened behind the scenes, but to apparently have absolutely no back-up in place for such an important shift on such an important news day is embarrassing. I wonder if Oakley will supply any explanation on his return. Now that's a Topic I'd find Worthy Of Discussion!
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Was there nobody they could have tabbed to jump in?
I don't know the ins and outs of Global 640 but c'mon it's a major company.
What would they have done if Trudeau had been shot?
Probably have gone to their TV feed I guess.
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newsguy1 wrote:
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I don't know the ins and outs of Global 640 but c'mon it's a major company.
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A major company with a B share price which closed at $ 1.38 per on Tuesday... and if the trend continues, its on the way to be a penny stock....
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My guess (and it's only that) is that whatever happened occurred very late, so late that they weren't able to come up with a replacement in time. Otherwise, how could a station in the biggest market in the country explain why they had reruns on in the second most important daypart in all of radio?
The only explanation that makes sense is either a) they knew and didn't care or b) they couldn't find anyone available on short notice and had to improvise a last-minute solution.
But either way, it was a terrible time on a heavy news day to be without someone live.
And by the way, it was very apparent. The bumper music rejoins were sometimes cut off, to be replaced by the original segment music. There were no host throws to traffic reports. The stories they covered were either dated or didn't mention the breaking news everyone else had. And Bynon would promo something coming up after a break, then give listeners a totally different topic when she returned.
It just didn't work and I doubt they fooled any savvy listeners.
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I recall Oakley mentioning an elderly parent in Burlington. Or maybe he injured something playing hockey. Things happen. However good management prepares for such contingencies, and airing out of date recordings doesn't cut it. As Bynon spoke I thought it might be sourced from something she did on her satelite show, that's how different the studio sound was. Anyway I moved on fast.
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They didn't even mention Oakley's name today. Is he done??
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Sort of a similar situation with Late Night With Seth Meyers. The late night talk show has been in repeat this week. A shame because Seth would have been all over the Fox/Dominion story with his excellent and very funny, A Closer Look.
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Guest host Rob Fai mentioned on Friday that he was in for the "ailing" John Oakley. So if you're looking for a reason for his week-long absence, that's probably it.