Mike Stafford paid a brief tribute to his former producer Ryan Bonnar on Friday. Turns out it was his last day at AM 640 after 13 years. He’s apparently going to a marketing job.
 
You probably wouldn’t even know the name if Stafford hadn’t made him a big part of his show before Bonnar moved behind the glass to take over the new morning show. I always thought he treated him as sort of his version of Ricky Gervais’ whipping boy Karl Pilkington. But while not everyone here thought it was great radio, they definitely had an interesting rapport.
 
I have it on good authority that Bonnar used to occasionally contribute posts to this page under an assumed name and I hope he’ll continue to do that. He becomes one of the increasingly few radio or TV people to leave voluntarily these days. (As noted here recently, ESPN let 100 on air types go just a few weeks ago.)
 
Sadly, it’s becoming increasingly rare for those in the business to voluntarily go before they’re axed for the most odious term in modern-day commerce – “restructuring,” which generally means 'we realized we were paying you too much or you’re due for an increase so you’ve got to go now and we’ll hire someone cheaper or not replace you at all.'  
 
I wonder how many others are leaving broadcasting of their own accord? There’s that newscaster in Kitchener who departed to become a cop. And The Buffalo News has a story about a well known and well liked veteran TV news anchor who’s exiting Channel 2 to become, of all things, a G.M. of a local car dealership.
 
In the article, WGRZ’s Scott Levin talks about how much the industry has contracted and why leaving was a good option, despite the fact the station wanted him to stay. I’m guessing he’s one of an increasingly vanishing breed that gets to decide that on his own terms.