Burns began his career in 1962 and held various positions at stations in upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Later, for 14 years Burns served as a talk show host, news commentator and program director at WKIS in Orlando. He began hosting his national show out of Boston (WRKO) via satellite in 1990 and moved to New York in 1962. The syndicated afternoon drive talk show originated from WOR and was carried on 162 stations. In 1994, Burns moved to the West Coast.

Burns has served on the Boards of dozens of community organizations and is a past president of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts. He has broadcast live from around the globe including Russia, Japan, and Isreal, and has interviewed hundreds of prominent personalitities including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Janet Reno, former Senator Al D'Amato and Lamar Smith.