Alan Robson

{{Short description|British radio personality}} {{about||the English rugby union player|Alan Robson (rugby union)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{BLP sources|date=November 2010}} {{Infobox person | image =  | | image_size = 150px | |name= Alan Robson |honorific_suffix={{postnom|size=100%|MBE}} |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1955|10|1|df=y}} |birth_place= Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne, England |occupation = Radio presenter }} '''Alan Robson''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born 1 October 1955) is an English radio presenter, and host of the North East radio talk show, ''Alan Robson's Night Owls''.

== Radio == Robson started his career with Metro Radio in Gateshead, presenting his first show on 12 November 1976.<ref>[https://planetradio.co.uk/metro/local/news/alan-robson-last-nightowl-show/ Alan Robson's last show on Metro Radio and TFM], Metro Radio, 27 June 2019</ref> Initially, he hosted specialist rock music shows for the station, including ''Bridges'' and ''Hot 'n' Heavy Express''<ref>{{cite web |title=An Evening with Alan Robson MBE |date=31 March 2023 |url=https://innewcastle.co.uk/an-evening-with-alan-robson-mbe/}}</ref> on Saturday nights.

''Night Owls'' launched shortly after Metro began broadcasting in July 1974, initially presented by James Whale, then followed by Allan Beswick, Tony Crosby and Dave Porter, before Robson took over in 1983.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/alan-robsons-night-owls-halloween-6847485| title = The best of Alan Robson's Night Owls: give us your favourite memories - Chronicle Live| date = 26 October 2018}}</ref>

''Alan Robson's Night Owls'' won Robson a gold New York Radio Award for Best Radio Personality in a local market in 2019.<ref>[https://www.newyorkfestivals.com/worldsbestradio/2018/pieces.php?iid=534231&pid=1/ New York Radio Award 2018]</ref><ref>[https://radiotoday.co.uk/2019/06/winners-announced-for-new-york-radio-awards/ Winners announced for New York Radio Awards], RadioToday, 27 June 2019</ref> In later years, ''Night Owls'' aired from 10pm - 2am from Sunday to Thursday nights.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://planetradio.co.uk/metro/presenters/alan-robson-night-owls/ |title=Alan Robson - NIght Owls {{!}} Presenter Biography - Metro Radio |website=planetradio.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074946/https://planetradio.co.uk/metro/presenters/alan-robson-night-owls/ |archive-date=2019-03-01}}</ref> From October 2012, the Monday to Thursday night shows were simulcast on Metro's sister station TFM.<ref>[http://radiotoday.co.uk/2012/10/metro-radios-night-owls-extends-to-tfm/ Metro Radio’s Night Owls extends to TFM] Radio Today, 6 October 2012</ref>

''Night Owls'' aired for the final time on Metro Radio and TFM on 27 June 2019 with a specially extended highlights show.<ref>[https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/alan-robson-night-owls-metro-16428473 Night Owls on Metro Radio to end], Sonia Sharma, The Chronicle, 14 June 2019</ref> Robson continued with station owners Bauer as host of a weekly Sunday night version of ''Night Owls'' on sister station Greatest Hits Radio North East from August 2019 to the end of April 2022.<ref>[https://radiotoday.co.uk/2019/06/night-owls-and-alan-robson-move-to-greatest-hits-radio/ Night Owls and Alan Robson move to Greatest Hits Radio], RadioToday, 27 June 2019</ref>

He claims that in November 2000 he received a master's degree in Exorcism and Spiritualism at Birkbeck, University of London. <ref>[http://www.journallive.co.uk/lifestyle-news/newcastle-people/2008/02/16/alan-embraces-the-spirit-of-the-radio-61634-20482933/ Alan embraces the spirit of the radio]{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Journal Live, Feb 16 2008 by Hannah Davies, The Journal. </ref>

==Television== Robson has presented 14 different television series (such as ''Robson's People'' and ''Robson's Personal Call'') for Tyne Tees Television and appears on Living Channel.

He contributes to ''Scariest Places on Earth'', which is broadcast across parts of the U.S. by ABC. While making the show, he broadcasts his radio show from the 'haunted' locations. He has also appeared on dozens of hit TV shows as an expert on the paranormal, including ''Larry King Live'' and appeared in the BBC One documentary series ''Trouble in Store''.

==Books== Alan Robson has written or compiled five books:

*''Simply The Best: Geordie Jokes and Stories'' *''Grisly Trails and Ghostly Tales''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BeGAAAACAAJ|title = Grisly Trails and Ghostly Tales|isbn = 9780863695889|last1 = Robson|first1 = Alan|year = 1992| publisher=Virgin Bks. }}</ref> *''Nightmare on Your Street: More Grisly Trails and Ghostly Tales''<ref>{{cite web| url = https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/24469630?q&versionId=29540045| title = Trove}}</ref> *''Trimmings from the Triffid's Beard[''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/220579368/Trimmings-Volume-1 |title=Trimmings Volume 1 | PDF | Translations | Writers }}</ref> *''The Lives and Loves of a Night Owl''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiiiAAAACAAJ|title = The Lives and Loves of a Night Owl: The Autobiography|isbn = 9781852274092|last1 = Robson|first1 = Alan|year = 1994| publisher=Virgin }}</ref>

His first five books were published between the years 1992 and 1994. ''The Lives and Loves of a Night Owl'' is his autobiography.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

He also wrote a book called ''Grisly Trails and Ghostly Tales'', an anthology of supernatural stories from North East England, followed up by a second book the following year.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

He is also the editor of one book by the author Wayne Schreiber (''Arise A Hero'') published in 2011.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Alan}} Category:1955 births Category:English radio personalities Category:Living people Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire