The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » GNR 640

betaylored · July 25, 2019 11:17 pm

2,430 now following Mike Stafford on Twitter, and this has been increasing over the past few days. Lots of listeners wanting him back on the air, and more than a few disappointed in the two OTT tweets.

Even with the quirky cesspool of humanity/inhumanity that is Twitter, the fact that he continues to gain new followers is worth noting, and a number of well known and respected names in radio are publicly supporting his return to the airwaves on Twitter.

As the PR pundits on Newstalk 1010 have been known to preach, when commenting on how to recover from a professional misstep that plays out in public, what Stafford says next, and the explanation/apology he gives, assuming he gets the opportunity on air, will be key.

AspectRatio · July 26, 2019 6:39 am

RadioActive wrote:
If Stafford is turfed, I can't conceive of who might take his place. Will Supriya be back since they were so closely associated with each other? They're not likely to move Oakley back to mornings, and Peter Shurman has made it known many times he doesn't want a full time gig. So who's left? Possibly an outside hire or someone from another Corus talk station.

Maybe Matt Gurney could be coaxed back!

Citypulse News 15 · July 26, 2019 9:11 am

Shurman in his sign off today, said that Mike will be back Monday.

kevjo · July 26, 2019 10:56 am

I'm sorry. My medications made me make racist comments...isn't that called the Roseanne Defence?

RadioActive · July 26, 2019 8:19 pm

On a peripheral story related to this, it appears 640 is now officially short on fill-ins. Peter Shurman, their usual go-to guy, has been unexpectedly required to do mornings this week after the Stafford debacle, meaning he can't fill in anywhere else.

Tasha Kheiriddin has been in for Kelly Cutrara.

And Alex Pierson took Jeff McArthur's spot from 1-3 PM.

But with Ed Keenan heading to Washington for the Toronto Star, it appears he's no longer available to 640. Which means Pierson was forced to do the first hour of her regular show from 6:30-7:30 PM. After that, they aired nothing but rerolls of some rather dated interviews. (And they didn't indicate they were reruns.) Clearly, there was no one to take her place on a Friday night. (What happened to Michael Coren?)

And so it seems like GNR 640 is back to where it started a long time ago, at least on this Friday night - so thinly staffed, there are too few people to fill all the shifts if two or more hosts are out unexpectedly (like Stafford) or sick or on vacation (like Cutrara.)

This obviously can't be allowed to stand, since a talk station that deals with unfolding events can't have their pre-recorded personalities doing interviews about old news on the air. It appears the Stafford issue is hurting them more than just in the mornings.

betaylored · July 27, 2019 12:12 am

Did 640 ever hire a new PD after Nathan Smith headed back to London radio? I don't think so.

I know Arlene Bynon was filling in recently, and Tina T is more than capable of carrying a show again by herself, for a week or so.

Quite the flustercuck, "who's on first" GNR am 640 summer. The radio station employees deserve better, and so do the listeners.

Kilgore · July 27, 2019 5:25 am

Greg Carrasco is between gigs and is likely available

Glen Warren · July 27, 2019 5:37 am

Kilgore wrote:
Greg Carrasco is between gigs and is likely available

An excellent choice...

I would also suggest Frankie D for consideration....

vwjets · July 28, 2019 2:24 pm

His twitter is gone, but he's still on the am640 site:
https://twitter.com/Loogan640
https://globalnews.ca/toronto/program/the-morning-show-640/?gref=640toronto
https://globalnews.ca/author/mike-stafford/

I'm actually going to wake up in the early morning to hear the show sign on at 5:30AM to see what happens.

Chrisphen · July 28, 2019 8:47 pm

Could this have been one big promotional stunt for a rawer, edgier 640? Tune in to find out.

vwjets · July 29, 2019 5:38 am

He's Back!!

RadioActive · July 29, 2019 8:47 am

Part of me is surprised to hear he returned but another part isn't. (How's that for a definitive opinion?) I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that closed door meeting with management last week.

The fact he appears to have deleted his Twitter page is probably a good thing. Did he make any reference at all to the incident or is he carrying on as if nothing happened?

While I'm not sure one mistake should cost someone a job, he's lucky this didn't hit the more established press beside Canadaland. I can only imagine The Star making this a cause celebre if it hit their radar. But then again, newspapers in this city never cover radio.

July 29, 2019 2:31 pm

RadioActive wrote:
newspapers in this city never cover radio

Am disappointed that Marc (12:36) Weisblott didn't run with it. Rosie DeManno (Star) & Christie (NatPost) Blatchford both handle sensitive topics well. One doesn't have to agree with their take(s) on a story to find their output mind-expanding.

Anyhow, all's well that turned out well.

pinto · July 29, 2019 2:49 pm

I am happy he survived, still sad he's not doing mid-days where he had more freedom

cash · July 29, 2019 2:51 pm

So what did he say? Anyone have a clip?

July 29, 2019 2:52 pm

Is a close-knit community. Weisblott, DiManno and Blatchford likely considered it

Dale Patterson · July 29, 2019 4:13 pm

Did Stafford address the issue this morning on his show, or was it not mentioned?

betaylored · July 29, 2019 11:17 pm

Dale Patterson wrote:
Did Stafford address the issue this morning on his show, or was it not mentioned?

Not mentioned, and the general conversational feel of the show this morning was faintly awkward and uneven at times, not surprising all things considered, or rather not considered.

Last edited by betaylored (July 29, 2019 11:20 pm)