The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Ben Mulroney hit the ground running

echomaster · January 7, 2026 4:55 pm

Ben is good. Great voice, great annunciation - dynamic.

I hate the 640 'format' of shoving 2-3 topics in each half hour. The format prevents getting out first gear, taking 1 or 2 calls on the topic at hand.

I so, so, so miss Mr Stafford's voice on the radio.

RadioActive · January 7, 2026 5:08 pm

I notice he has a brand new customized intro, done in the style of a Michael Bublé.

Brad Smith, whose show airs from 9AM-noon, is also ushered in by a new theme. Only his is ear torture, has dumb lyrics and the singer screaming at the listener and goes on way too long. It almost makes you tune out the show before it begins. They need to either change it or definitely shorten it.

Walter · January 7, 2026 6:23 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I notice he has a brand new customized intro, done in the style of a Michael Bublé.

Brad Smith, whose show airs from 9AM-noon, is also ushered in by a new theme. Only his is ear torture, has dumb lyrics and the singer screaming at the listener and goes on way too long. It almost makes you tune out the show before it begins. They need to either change it or definitely shorten it.

The 'singer', and I use that term very loosely, is Smith himself. He obviously considers himself a comedic impressionist, based on his continuous parodies of Trump etc. Problem is, he's not very good at it, and it grows tiresome quickly. Otherwise, he's entertaining enough, so it should work out in the long run.

RadioActive · January 7, 2026 7:01 pm

I'm aware it was Smith. But it desperately needs to be shortened if they're going to use it. Fifteen-twenty seconds would be more than enough.

RadioAaron · January 7, 2026 7:04 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I'm aware it was Smith. But it desperately needs to be shortened if they're going to use it. Fifteen-twenty seconds would be more than enough.

Oh my god, it’s more than that?! Even if it were good, any longer is too much.

RadioActive · January 7, 2026 7:11 pm

I didn't time it, but it felt endless. A least a minute or more.

paterson1 · January 7, 2026 9:17 pm

Mulroney should slow down and turn it down a bit on radio. He stumbles too much and gets wound up easily. Decaf maybe?

Chrisphen · January 7, 2026 9:58 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Mulroney should slow down and turn it down a bit on radio. He stumbles too much and gets wound up easily. Decaf maybe?

No. Let him continue his transition unmolested.

RadioAaron · January 7, 2026 10:09 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Mulroney should slow down and turn it down a bit on radio. He stumbles too much and gets wound up easily. Decaf maybe?

The listeners will just have to adapt; that's how (50-year-old) kids talk these days.

Walter · January 8, 2026 3:49 am

RadioActive wrote:
I'm aware it was Smith. But it desperately needs to be shortened if they're going to use it. Fifteen-twenty seconds would be more than enough.

Yes, agreed. It's a cacophony, and an assault on the senses.

mace · January 8, 2026 6:39 am

echomaster wrote:
Ben is good. Great voice, great annunciation - dynamic.

I hate the 640 'format' of shoving 2-3 topics in each half hour. The format prevents getting out first gear, taking 1 or 2 calls on the topic at hand.

I so, so, so miss Mr Stafford's voice on the radio.

The late John Micheal was a master of talk radio when he was at CJRN and later CKTB. For the first half hour of his show, he would pontificate on the latest current events, then open up the phone lines without a call screener. He let the callers decide what topics were of interest to them. you never knew how or where the show was headed. His show always had a great lead in at 8:30am. Paul Harvey's News & Comment.

jughead jones · January 8, 2026 10:06 am

Brad Smith introduced a new song to start the show.

RadioActive · January 8, 2026 10:07 am

Walter wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
I notice he has a brand new customized intro, done in the style of a Michael Bublé.

Brad Smith, whose show airs from 9AM-noon, is also ushered in by a new theme. Only his is ear torture, has dumb lyrics and the singer screaming at the listener and goes on way too long. It almost makes you tune out the show before it begins. They need to either change it or definitely shorten it.
The 'singer', and I use that term very loosely, is Smith himself. He obviously considers himself a comedic impressionist, based on his continuous parodies of Trump etc. Problem is, he's not very good at it, and it grows tiresome quickly. Otherwise, he's entertaining enough, so it should work out in the long run.

They had a slightly different and more listenable intro on Thursday. I timed it - it ran 50 secs. I appreciate the trouble and the production that went into it. But just get the show started as quickly as possible. That's what people are tuning on for, not a long intro.

Easily Amused · January 8, 2026 10:18 am

mace wrote:
The late John Micheal was a master of talk radio when he was at CJRN and later CKTB. For the first half hour of his show, he would pontificate on the latest current events, then open up the phone lines without a call screener. He let the callers decide what topics were of interest to them. you never knew how or where the show was headed. His show always had a great lead in at 8:30am. Paul Harvey's News & Comment.

And the longer he was in the business, the more bombastic his pontificating became. 🤔😁

Walter · January 8, 2026 10:23 am

jughead jones wrote:
Brad Smith introduced a new song to start the show.

Heard it. Slightly better, but still mostly indecipherable, and unnecessarily annoying.

RadioActive · January 8, 2026 10:24 am

mace wrote:
The late John Micheal was a master of talk radio when he was at CJRN and later CKTB. For the first half hour of his show, he would pontificate on the latest current events, then open up the phone lines without a call screener. He let the callers decide what topics were of interest to them. you never knew how or where the show was headed. His show always had a great lead in at 8:30am. Paul Harvey's News & Comment.

I agree with you. John Michael was a true original, who started his talk show on CJRN and then moved to the more powerful signal on 610. He was great on the air and you never knew what to expect.

He had a lot of bits he used all the time. Including how his wife, Maggie, was French Canadian and she always insisted on cutting the grass. He claimed the phrase for "cutting the grass" in Quebec was "mow-de-lawn."

And talk about something that now sounds dated. He'd tell people crossing the border to always make sure they thoroughly closed the door before they came over, because Buffalo leaks - and we got huge snowstorms.

He was not without controversy, frequently getting into trouble with the CRTC over his comments about the Indigenous community, which eventually led to his being fired from CJRN. But he was rarely dull and there has never been anyone quite like him in Southern Ontario radio since.

You never knew what he would do, and it was a real treat to tune him in every day. He passed away in 2008, after retiring five years earlier.

paterson1 · January 8, 2026 10:43 am

RadioAaron wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
Mulroney should slow down and turn it down a bit on radio. He stumbles too much and gets wound up easily. Decaf maybe?
The listeners will just have to adapt; that's how (50-year-old) kids talk these days.

Not sure about that. Lots of 50 and unders on air don't sound anything like Ben. He just needs to dial it down a bit and slow down a little so he doesn't trip himself up so much. Basic announcing, he doesn't need to sound so rushed on air. Like I said, try decaf. He is much more laid back on The West Block on Global.