What Do You Want Him to Talk About?

Radio Programming Consultant Alan Burns will speak at the 2008 ABA Annual Convention this summer. Alan has asked us to poll our membership about topics that are important to you.

Do you want him to talk about the most common programming mistakes? Would you like to know how to make your station sound more local? Want to know how to "put a face on your station"? You tell us!

E-mail your suggestions to Sharon Tinsley at stinsley@al-ba.com.

ABA Convention
July 17 - 20, 2008
The Grand Hotel - Point Clear, Alabama

CONVENTION PROGRAM | HOTEL RESERVATIONS | EXHIBITOR PACKAGE

Alabama native Alan Burns is President and Chief Executive Officer of Alan Burns and Associates, a worldwide media consulting firm that has advised over 200 radio stations and large groups, including ABC, CBS/Infinity, Emmis, and Clear Channel Communications, and radio clients in the US, Europe, Scandinavia, the Mid-East, Australia, and New Zealand.

Having started in radio at a 1000-watt daytimer in Pickens County and worked with clients in markets like New York and Los Angeles, Alan understands radio in both the largest and smallest markets.

In addition to its work in commercial radio, Alan Burns and Associates has used its marketing, research, and creative skills to advise clients such as DMX Cable, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, major record labels such as Atlantic, Elektra, and RCA, and the NBC Television program “Red, Hot, and Blue.” In 2000, Burns launched the first Internet-based music research service for record label A&R and promotional use, and clients included all major labels and industry legends such as Clive Davis.

Alan' strengths include strategic vision, market research, marketing/advertising/promotion, market and product positioning, creation of entertainment products, and envisioning possibilities. For example, he advised CBS Television to pursue music-TV in the early 1970s before MTV was created. He also recommended that Columbia Records begin marketing music videos in the early '80s (videos later became large revenue sources for most labels). Similarly, he advised Elektra Records in the early '90s as to how to position both artists and record labels. Mr. Burns accurately predicted the far-reaching effects of radio ownership consolidation in an article written for Radio and Records in 1995.

Burns received an MA in Mass Communication from the University of Alabama where he was named Outstanding Alumnus in 2005. Burns has been in radio for over 35 years. He launched Alan Burns and Associates in 1985, and the company quickly became one of the top radio programming and marketing firms in the U.S. and the largest radio consulting firm in Germany and Northern Europe.

Alan has been something of a pioneer in the use of audience research in radio, having conducted, among other things, the first cluster analysis project in the industry. He is quoted in Wimmer and Dominick's collegiate textbook Mass Media Research.

Mr. Burns has served as a member of the Management Steering Committee for the National Association of Broadcasters, is invited to speak at most major industry gatherings, and has authored articles in every major radio industry publication. Additionally, Mr. Burns co-authored the radio industry best seller, Morning Radio: Creating On-Air Superstars (1999) and "Psychographics and Radio Decision-Making" in the New Mexico Journal of Communication.

Alan Burns lives and works on the Gulf of Mexico with his wife, Donna, and their dog Deacon.