Transcript [00:00] [Applause] [00:02] [Music] [00:12] hello I'm lane Jordan Berde along with [00:15] Lisa burkart worldly and welcome to pop [00:18] talk the show where you never know what [00:21] topics might pop up how many of you grew [00:24] up listening to AM radio stations well I [00:26] know I did and if you did you will want [00:29] to listen into this program because AM [00:32] radio is in danger and today we will [00:35] hear from a media influencer who will [00:37] share what is going on Lisa has the [00:40] introduction thank you Lane Our Guest [00:43] today is known to anyone involved in [00:45] religious broadcasting his name is Troy [00:47] Miller he's the president and CEO of the [00:50] National Religious broadcasters also [00:53] known as nrb for the past year past few [00:56] years our pop talk team has been taping [00:59] progress at the nrb convention and it's [01:02] an incredible event where you meet many [01:05] influencers in the world of Christian [01:07] Media Troy Miller is a senior executive [01:10] with more than 30 years of management [01:12] and business experience he was elected [01:14] as president and CEO of nrb in July 2022 [01:18] and under his leadership nrb has [01:20] recaptured a very strong financial [01:23] position it's grown its membership and [01:26] it's enhanced its programming networking [01:29] and sponsorship Troy is also president [01:31] and CEO of nrbtv where he served since [01:34] June 2005 and before that he worked for [01:37] the personal computer company Gateway [01:39] I'm sure you've heard of that and led [01:41] several business startups there he also [01:43] held the position of vice president and [01:45] Chief Operating Officer for djames [01:47] Kennedy Ministries in addition he served [01:49] our country in the United States Navy [01:52] and I want to say that despite all that [01:54] he has accomplished which you just heard [01:56] right here and despite how busy Troy [01:58] Miller is the nrb convention he's a [02:02] really approachable guy and I know our [02:05] team appreciates his humble spirit so [02:08] welcome to pop talk Troy my background [02:10] is secular television but now we're [02:13] doing some radio and I have listened to [02:15] AM radio for years why is am radio's [02:20] future in danger at this time well first [02:22] of all thank you for having me and thank [02:24] you for that nice introduction and and [02:27] it really is good to be uh with you all [02:29] and to be a part of nrb you know AM [02:32] radio like you said I grew up in rur [02:34] Nebraska I'm a Nebraska Farm Boy and [02:36] look we listen to AM radio all the time [02:38] I remember my grandfather uh would stop [02:40] the chores to go in and listen to the a [02:43] report at noon over over uh 670 AM radio [02:47] out of Sous City and so am radio has [02:50] played just a vital role to the [02:52] communities across this country for a [02:53] number of years so recently car [02:56] manufacturers uh announced that they [02:58] were going to dis discontinue am radios [03:01] in the dash um and the reason they gave [03:04] the initial reason they gave was that it [03:05] was causing interference in the electric [03:08] vehicle so we have these new e mandates [03:11] going out there and they said well it's [03:13] going to cost us too much money to keep [03:15] AM radio there's interference from the [03:16] batteries and other things in there and [03:19] so that really became the initial reason [03:22] why AM radio was in trouble uh in cars [03:25] in the future but really that's not all [03:29] the whole [03:30] so there is legislation now called the [03:34] am for every vehicle act to protect our [03:38] AM [03:39] radio and what is this legislation [03:42] trying to do and can you speak about [03:45] legislators like US Representative Kathy [03:48] McMorris [03:50] Rogers yeah absolutely so again I don't [03:53] think that the Auto industry really [03:55] realized that the backlash they were [03:56] going to get from this decision and um [04:00] the the comments came rolling in Fast [04:02] and Furious uh not only from across the [04:05] industry but also from a number of uh [04:08] former heads of different uh departments [04:10] particularly FEMA the Federal Emergency [04:12] Management Association which uses the [04:14] emergency broadcast system on on AM [04:17] radio um almost exclusively so [04:20] immediately Congress started hearing [04:22] from people about 400,000 people started [04:24] calling and they said hey we need to act [04:26] and so the AM radio and every Dash [04:28] legislation was put forward forward [04:30] right now it's already moving its way [04:32] fastly through the Senate we have nearly [04:34] 60 co-sponsors on the bill by the way [04:38] very strong bipartisan support for AM [04:41] radio the dash this is not a issue on [04:43] one or the other side of the aisle both [04:46] sides of the aisle have come behind AM [04:47] radio and just as recently as today uh [04:51] as you said Kathy McMorris Rogers she is [04:53] the chairwoman of the house Energy and [04:55] Commerce Committee that oversees the [04:58] Federal Communications Commission [05:00] um the group that oversees of course [05:02] Radio broadcasters and they held the [05:04] hearing today and her comments were [05:06] really positive and encouraging she [05:09] talked about the importance of AM radio [05:11] in rural community she grew up in in uh [05:14] Eastern uh Washington State and the [05:17] importance it was for her and her [05:18] communities growing up and so we're [05:20] really encouraged that out of the [05:22] hearing today waiting to see what the [05:24] number of the testimonies went through [05:26] but out of hearing today that this bill [05:28] will now move forward to the house floor [05:30] and I think we're going to very very [05:32] quickly see um 218 co-sponsors which [05:36] will basically mean it's going to sail [05:38] through the house as approval and so I [05:41] think we'll see this uh bill later this [05:43] summer uh get approved by both houses [05:46] and hopefully sent up for the president [05:47] to sign well that is great news because [05:50] there is a lot of Christian programming [05:53] on AM radio I listen to it all the time [05:56] if this act did not pass I'm wondering [05:59] how it would affect large Christian [06:01] radio companies like the bot Network who [06:03] does a beautiful breakfast at nrb and [06:06] Salem Radio to name a couple how would [06:08] this affect them well as you said f [06:10] first of all uh AM radio uh again about [06:14] 80 million people across this country [06:17] still listen to and rely on a and radio [06:20] for everything from News sports AG [06:23] reports local uh uh news and advertising [06:27] and so it's very important so I I think [06:29] look it would have definitely have an [06:31] impact on these large radio [06:33] organizations Christian talk and teach [06:36] and conservative talk are the two top [06:38] genres on AM radio that's the top [06:41] programming that you hear across the [06:42] country followed by Spanish language [06:45] programming so three major groups would [06:47] be disenfranchised if AM radio was [06:50] pulled out of the dash plus it's going [06:52] to have a big impact on communities not [06:54] just the radio stations themselves and [06:56] the big radio groups but AM radio and [06:58] radio station in general they're very [07:01] involved in their local communities they [07:04] not only as we talked about what they [07:06] broadcast but often times when tragedy [07:08] hits or natural disasters hit it's the [07:11] AM radio stations that are coordinating [07:13] with local churches and coordinating [07:16] With Disaster Relief to tell people [07:17] where to go where to get water where to [07:19] get your your services where to go here [07:22] and as we all know AM radio radio [07:25] stations of the community are doing a [07:26] number of things food drives clothing [07:28] drives uh Toys for Tots all kinds of [07:31] things that go on so I think communities [07:34] uh uh are going to see the greatest [07:35] impact if we lose AM radio across this [07:38] country boy you brought up some great [07:41] points you're right I mean and and I [07:44] listen to to uh especially conservative [07:48] news on on AM radio but the way that it [07:51] goes out and helps communities I mean [07:53] it's huge it's so important well I've [07:57] been listening to some things and it [07:58] says there's a the dashboard of a car is [08:02] important now I have never thought of [08:04] the dashboard of a car as a [08:06] commodity but how are automakers looking [08:09] at the dashboard as a major source of [08:13] Revenue yeah now we're getting to the [08:15] heart of the issue uh since the [08:18] government Accounting Office looked into [08:20] this idea but you know the part was [08:22] going to be too expensive and really [08:23] came back and said look a $40 part is is [08:26] insignificant to a $20,000 car and uh so [08:30] that issue really washed aside and as [08:32] you said the real issue is surfaced here [08:34] this is a thing called the connected car [08:37] you know everywhere is connected today [08:39] we run around our phones are connected [08:41] we're never disconnected from anything [08:43] and now the auto manufacturers want to [08:45] get into this as well with the connected [08:47] car so your car now most of your cars [08:49] have a have a sometimes a pretty nice [08:53] size screen in them uh uh that that [08:55] you're really your dash is gone you have [08:57] this big screen now and and um you have [09:00] connection to the Internet so the [09:02] connected car has this connection to the [09:04] internet and what the automakers have [09:05] seen this as is a Next Generation [09:08] revenue for them they could sell [09:10] subscriptions to you to access [09:13] information now in the car rather than [09:15] you getting it free over the air uh so [09:18] if they can make money on it well the [09:20] easy way to make money is get rid of the [09:21] free option so the only way to get it is [09:23] to pay for it and so I think that's the [09:26] real issue that's going on here is who [09:28] controls the information who controls [09:31] the entertainment who controls the news [09:33] that's in the car and the auto [09:35] manufacturers have kind of kind of laid [09:37] their cards out now and they really want [09:40] to control and there there's a lot of [09:42] problems with that it's a big business [09:44] and it's really scary in fact I wish [09:46] they would quit doing so much to the [09:48] dash the the picture is too large for me [09:50] it distracts me a lot of times when I'm [09:52] driving and for me not having an AM [09:55] radio dial in my car would be a lot like [09:57] the time I bought a new car I'll never [09:59] forget get this I get in I'm looking for [10:00] the CD player and the guy goes there is [10:03] no CD player I said what do you mean [10:04] there's no CD player aw so I had to [10:07] learn I guess we're showing our age but [10:10] I had to learn how to download songs to [10:13] my phone to a playlist I guess it forced [10:16] me to get into this this Century but how [10:20] is something like that different uh from [10:22] what is already occurred in car man [10:25] manufacturing how is this one different [10:27] taking AM radio out [10:30] well again I I think the CDs is is sort [10:32] of one option because that was that was [10:35] an option you really had a another [10:37] alternative which was still a free way [10:39] for you to play your songs and do this [10:41] in the dash you simply had to learn a [10:43] little bit of new technology to do it [10:45] but you had the option to do it and that [10:48] that's the real issue here if you take [10:50] AM radio out of the dash you really [10:52] don't have the option of how to get this [10:54] and you've suddenly disenfranchised a [10:56] whole bunch of people 80 million [10:58] listeners who would love to have free [11:00] radio they don't want to have a [11:02] subscription in order to get their their [11:05] uh local broadcaster they want to be [11:07] able to just tune the dial listen to [11:09] their morning commute or their commute [11:11] home and and that's the real issue here [11:14] is taking the option away from uh the [11:18] the driver of the car the the occupants [11:20] of the car and putting that all in the [11:23] hands now of of the automobile companies [11:26] and those people who control that [11:27] subscriptions and let me just one point [11:29] on that don't forget we have a lot of [11:32] cancel culture going on today and a lot [11:35] of Christian talk and teach radio they [11:38] have a hard time even getting their apps [11:40] in the in the Apple store or the Google [11:42] store now do they have to go through [11:44] another layer with the autom [11:46] manufacturers quote store that's up so [11:49] upsetting I had no [11:52] idea well one good thing is Troy that [11:55] the nrb also supports the local radio [11:59] Freedom Act can you explain this [12:02] legislation sure this the local radio [12:04] Freedom Act has to do with the royalties [12:07] that that radio stations uh pay to not [12:11] the musicians themselves directly uh [12:14] because that that's not how this works [12:15] they pay it to these large royalty [12:18] organizations uh that then control all [12:21] of this money and unfortunately very [12:24] little of it actually makes it back to [12:26] the artist um and it's really caught up [12:28] in this whole Bureau bureaucracy uh [12:30] again that Washington is so good at [12:32] creating uh they created this whole [12:34] whole bureaucracy around how royalties [12:36] work and rather than go back and and [12:39] look at it again and say hey we need to [12:40] fix this they just patched us and [12:42] patched us over the years and so what [12:44] we're supporting as a local radio [12:46] Freedom Act is to say hey Congress don't [12:48] put another Band-Aid another patch on [12:51] this whole royalties piece go back and [12:54] start from ground zero and look at the [12:57] way this works and take in the real [12:59] aspect of what has changed since the [13:02] original royalty started to now with all [13:05] of the streaming and everything else [13:06] that's going on because a lot of our [13:09] members they're nonprofit organizations [13:11] they're [13:12] non-commercial um they're not getting [13:15] big advertising dollars and and they're [13:18] really mistreated actually we're in one [13:20] lawsuit right now because NPR the [13:23] national public radio gets a much better [13:26] royalty rate in their negotiations then [13:29] these organizations are willing to give [13:31] nrb's music licensing committee and help [13:34] out these nonprofits so we think that [13:36] the stations are unfairly treated [13:39] religious stations are so we're actually [13:41] taking uh this group to court to try to [13:44] rectify that I love it what you guys do [13:47] you guys are really active you're you're [13:49] taking the bull by the horns and you're [13:51] trying to make a difference and I [13:53] appreciate that so much and and it is my [13:55] hope that AM radio is protected you know [13:58] I didn't know about any of this until [14:00] your publicist reached out to us to you [14:02] ask if we wanted to do the interview of [14:04] course we said yes but I wonder about [14:06] the public do they know that this is [14:08] happening I'm sure so many people would [14:10] want to fight for AM radio to stay in [14:13] the cars and to fight for uh just this [14:16] Freedom if they knew about it how can [14:18] our listeners get involved how can they [14:20] make a difference well again look look [14:23] we encourage people to be involved in [14:26] the legislative process your Congressman [14:28] needs to hear from you your your state [14:30] legislators your the people that [14:32] represent you in Washington DC need to [14:35] hear to hear from you so at nrb.org.np [14:59] to stay free and to stay available in [15:02] our cars and it's really that simple um [15:05] and a lot of people have reached out [15:06] already almost 400,000 have reached out [15:08] to Congress but we need another 400,000 [15:11] to reach out sometimes these folks don't [15:14] quite get the message until they hear it [15:17] from the folks in their District so so [15:19] go to nrb.org.np [15:29] great advice so with the time remaining [15:32] we want to talk a little bit about the [15:34] yearly nrb convention first I attended [15:38] the last one in Nashville with Lisa and [15:40] our pop talk TV and radio team and let [15:44] me just tell you it was fantastic it was [15:47] my first one even though I've been in [15:48] media a long time I was so impressed [15:53] with how organized and just excellent [15:56] every second was so so next year now I'm [16:00] excited even more next year it will be [16:01] in our neck of the woods here in Dallas [16:03] I am sure your team is already working [16:05] on the next convention at the Gaylord [16:07] Texan Hotel so can we ask how the plans [16:10] are going they're going great we [16:11] actually uh a few weeks ago we're just [16:13] down in your neck of the woods at the [16:14] Gaylord uh doing our pre-planning [16:16] meeting so we've kind of organized that [16:18] in our space we're getting our program [16:20] put together we'll start to have some of [16:22] those early meetings we'll be in [16:24] February again February uh 22nd through [16:26] the 24th uh down there there in Great [16:29] Vine Texas at the opery land Texan and [16:33] uh so it's we're just excited look this [16:35] is the largest gathering of Christian [16:37] communicators uh that happens throughout [16:39] the year over almost 5,000 uh folks got [16:43] together from radio and television [16:45] broadcasting radio and television [16:47] programming uh podcasters streamers [16:50] bloggers uh Publishers authors you name [16:53] it if you're in Christian Communications [16:56] this is the place to be this is where [16:58] you're gonna be able to network it's a [17:00] place for iron sharpens iron and it's a [17:02] great place where Christians uh come [17:04] together for the proclamation of the [17:06] gospel because that's what nrb is all [17:08] about we're about protecting that [17:10] proclamation of the Gospel in the public [17:13] space and in The Market Place alongside [17:16] everything else that's going on I gotta [17:18] tell you I love Christian Media I spent [17:20] 19 years as a television sports cter on [17:22] secular networks and stations but this [17:25] is so much more fun I mean I love sports [17:27] but I just love doing Christian Media [17:29] because you feel like you are making a [17:31] difference for the Lord and and we [17:33] certainly can uh get his truths out [17:36] there through these shows and and talk [17:38] about people who are doing great things [17:40] so I just love it um let's talk a little [17:42] bit though about when you took over the [17:44] National Religious broadcasters [17:46] Association it was in trouble [17:48] financially and I remember that because [17:50] I was had started uh attending but now [17:53] nrb is doing so much better under your [17:55] leadership how does it feel to know that [17:57] this Association has come come back to a [17:59] place of stability under your leadership [18:02] I know you're humble but you know it's [18:03] got to feel good that everything's [18:05] better now well it it certainly does [18:08] it's encouraging you you you'd much [18:11] rather be uh I'm a Navy guy so I'd say [18:14] you'd much rather be sailing the ship [18:16] than bailing the water uh so heading to [18:18] our destination and so we're on those [18:21] Great Waters now we're sailing uh and I [18:23] said you know nrb plays a vital role you [18:26] know this is a unfortunately we live a [18:29] in a in a growing hostile Community to [18:32] Christian communicators and and [18:34] broadcasters and there's a lot of folks [18:36] out there would love to marginalize or [18:39] cancel Christian programming allog [18:42] together um there's just a lot of [18:44] hostility but as you said look it's so [18:46] important the role that Christian [18:48] communicators play Not only in what they [18:50] do in their broadcasting I I know when I [18:53] worked for D James Kennedy it was just [18:55] amazing the number of letters we would [18:57] get people who would quote Rand ly turn [18:59] on the television in a time of Crisis [19:01] and they would hear the message of the [19:03] Gospel they would hear the message of [19:05] the of the scriptures and their lives [19:07] would be totally changed people would [19:09] decide not to commit suicide people [19:11] would decide to immediately get off or [19:13] get treatment for their addictions uh [19:15] women would decide not to have abortion [19:18] so all of those things that go on so as [19:20] the church you know we know that we kind [19:23] of have two roles and one's to get the [19:25] bride ready for that wedding when Christ [19:27] returns and the other one is to reach [19:29] the lost and so it's so such a vital [19:31] role Christian communicators play and [19:34] it's just humble to be a part of knowing [19:36] your God's using this organization and [19:39] he really gets the glory to bring it [19:41] back because it has a vital role to keep [19:43] that message going out to the airwaves [19:46] amen God does get the glory and I love [19:49] how you said PE especially after 911 all [19:53] of a sudden everybody's going to church [19:54] everybody's tuning in because something [19:58] has shift Ed in their normal life well I [20:02] personally Love Christian Media at one [20:04] time I was a producer for Dr Charles [20:07] Stanley for his [20:08] InTouch um show and uh it was just a [20:13] wonderful experience and so I've been [20:15] around this industry for a long time and [20:17] there is a saying once you get media in [20:20] your veins wow it's hard to shake it [20:22] because it is one of the best ways as [20:25] you mentioned to push truth and the [20:28] gospel out out [20:29] worldwide how fulfilling has it been for [20:32] you to work in the Christian media and [20:34] entertainment [20:36] industry oh yeah I I mean look I loved [20:39] my time in the tech industry uh and the [20:41] number of things that that we were able [20:43] to do uh it was a it was a lot of fun [20:46] Gateway was a great organization to work [20:48] for but as you said nothing's more [20:51] fulfilling uh that knowing that you're [20:53] really impacting and changing people's [20:55] lives I mean I mean what what a what an [20:58] honor to be a part of that and and a [21:00] blessing to to be a part of that again [21:03] as I said to hear people who have you [21:06] know been able to hear the message of [21:07] the gospel and scriptures and God has [21:10] just immediately changed their lives and [21:12] and people have been freed from [21:14] addictions and all kinds of things I [21:15] mean I I can't even imagine uh doing [21:18] anything else and now in this role to [21:20] know that you know our chief uh uh [21:23] function our cheat mission is to make [21:25] sure Ministries can continue to do what [21:28] God called them to do and that's look [21:31] our our society today needs to hear the [21:35] message of Hope more than anything so [21:37] much despair out there so much [21:39] depression that people are dealing with [21:42] uh the only thing that really brings joy [21:44] to people's lives is to have a [21:46] relationship with their lord and savior [21:48] and to know the gospel is alive and well [21:51] and that that look I I can't even tell [21:53] you enough times what that brings and [21:55] what the satisfaction of that really is [21:58] well I I have this theory that God is [22:01] using media to [22:03] reach the whole world right I think this [22:06] is the way he's gonna everyone's going [22:07] to hear the gospel do you have a thought [22:09] on that Troy oh absolutely I mean it's [22:13] just amazing some of the things that are [22:15] going on around the world we've talked a [22:17] little bit about AM radio and the market [22:19] here but look Christian broadcasters are [22:22] around the world especially in in third [22:24] world countries across Africa and South [22:27] America and Asia you know we we have a [22:30] number of Internationals we had um [22:32] almost 67 countries represented I think [22:36] this year 240 some Internationals were [22:39] at the convention um really Christian [22:42] broadcasting has helped bring the gospel [22:44] to unreach places and so so it's [22:47] exciting to know that those Ministries [22:49] are thriving and moving [22:51] forward yeah I know our television show [22:53] is reaching for sure Pakistan we're on a [22:55] network that reaches King television [22:57] reaches Pakistan and and so I know we're [23:00] re in India you know I know that we're [23:02] uh we're reaching you know somewhat to [23:05] these other countries and so it is [23:07] exciting to see even in the United [23:08] States having people reach out to us and [23:10] say you know I really follow that show [23:13] it's like I you do and so it's like it's [23:16] always surprising to me that someone is [23:18] somewhat of a fan of the show but but it [23:21] is you know it is really really a thrill [23:24] to do this and to to put Christian [23:26] television out there and it was just [23:28] such a wonderful honor to uh interview [23:31] you today Troy and we wish you all the [23:33] best with the nrb preps if you need [23:35] anything while you're here in Dallas let [23:37] us know uh the pearls of Promise team [23:39] would love to help and uh we just thank [23:41] you for sharing about this very [23:42] important fight to keep am radios in new [23:45] cars all the best to you and and God [23:48] willing we'll be at the 2025 nrb [23:51] convention here in Dallas Texas if you [23:53] want to reach out to Troy you can find [23:55] them at the nrb website at nrb .org or [23:59] you can contact his publicist Eden [24:02] Gordon Hill [24:04] atello Eden Gordon media.com
