Transcript [00:00] News Talk 1540 kxl where Iowa comes to [00:03] talk kxl news time now is 9:41 good [00:06] morning I'm Jeff Stein and we're pleased [00:09] to be joined now on the newsline by Troy [00:12] Miller Mr Miller is the president and [00:15] CEO of the National Religious [00:17] broadcasters Association nrb Mr Miller [00:21] good morning and thanks for taking time [00:22] to talk to folks across the state of [00:24] Iowa well good morning Jeff and it's [00:27] great to be with you the name is pretty [00:30] self-explanatory but give us a little [00:32] more the National Religious broadcasters [00:35] nrb who are you folks and what do you do [00:38] so we are the largest Association that [00:41] represents Christian communicators in [00:44] broadcasting rather radio television uh [00:47] film streaming publishing if you're a [00:50] Christian Communicator lots of churches [00:52] who are doing their own websites uh our [00:55] organization exists to make sure that [00:58] you can stay in the public ctor um and [01:01] do whatever Ministry it is whatever [01:03] God's called you to do um that relates [01:05] to Media so we work on Capitol Hill on [01:08] legislation that's going through on the [01:10] regulatory environment uh we look at [01:13] laws and things that are going through [01:14] the court systems and today we work a [01:16] lot on what's happening in Corporate [01:19] America especially around the censorship [01:21] uh with the big media companies and um [01:24] in Legacy [01:25] Media the FCC over the course of time [01:29] has expanded the bandwidth and has [01:34] allowed smaller low power FM frequencies [01:38] to pop up for nonprofit organizations [01:41] and that has really been a tremendous [01:44] asset for people of Faith who want to [01:46] get a message out to their communities [01:48] hasn't it it excuse me it has been uh a [01:52] real asset uh to them it's opened up a [01:55] whole new opportunity for uh the [01:58] airwaves you know for for localization [02:01] we're really big into you know that [02:03] local broadcasting is very important to [02:06] communities and communities either [02:08] whether it's in in municipalities or [02:10] across states that it's the local touch [02:13] and it's that local um um understanding [02:16] of communities uh that brings people [02:18] together and Christian broadcasting has [02:20] an important role in that you know as [02:22] you know am broadcasting and and that is [02:25] the primary method for getting out [02:28] information during uh kinds of natural [02:30] disasters and and other emergencies so [02:33] we we have been a big supporter and push [02:35] of that [02:36] effort and it is something we've [02:38] discussed here on the radio although [02:40] somewhat uncomfortably because uh [02:43] obviously we have a vested interest in [02:45] the concept of the am for every vehicle [02:48] act but we've tried to point out that uh [02:51] it has to do with Public Safety it has [02:53] to do with uh the the government's [02:56] emergency activation system Etc uh [03:00] yesterday the Senate found themselves [03:03] with a new version of AM radio for every [03:06] vehicle act and this is something your [03:08] organization as you know it strongly [03:09] supports tell me [03:11] more that's right we do strongly support [03:14] this a matter of fact we uh over a year [03:16] ago were were one of the organizations [03:18] that brought this issue to light when [03:20] Ford Motor Company announced that they [03:22] were no longer going to um keep am [03:25] radios in their new vehicles we [03:28] immediately wrote to the to the CEO and [03:30] to the chairman at at Ford to tell them [03:33] you you know our position on this and [03:34] how an important role that AM radio [03:37] plays so each time Congress comes back [03:39] into session into a new Congressional [03:41] session this is 119th Cong Congress [03:44] comes in uh bills from the previous [03:47] session need to be reintroduced so [03:48] Senators Cruz and uh Mary reintroduced [03:52] the AM radio for every vehicle act in [03:54] the Senate it has I think uh over 40 [03:58] co-sponsors uh uh uh on the bill a very [04:02] strong bipartisan support Cruz is a [04:04] republican Mar Mar's a Democrat so so [04:08] this has a lot of support and for a [04:11] number of reasons of course the [04:12] emergency broadcast system is one of the [04:14] key AM radio uh signal if you're kind of [04:18] in the geeky engineering world like I [04:20] came from uh AM radio has a a much [04:23] better signal stronger signal to reach [04:25] through storms reach longer distances [04:27] and and those that's why AM radio is [04:29] still the number one method for for [04:31] emergency broadcasting during the last [04:34] hurricanes and some other events you [04:36] know cell coverage that people like why [04:38] can't we use cell coverage well a lot of [04:39] those cell towers uh were inoperable and [04:42] they didn't and cell doesn't have the [04:44] reach at AM radio has so so that's a [04:46] major reason we think AM radio needs to [04:48] stay but also AM radio is the home for a [04:51] lot of conservative talk a lot of [04:54] Christian talk and teach stations um and [04:57] a lot of Spanish language station are [05:00] also AM radio AM radio is a very vibrant [05:04] uh uh U frequency broadcast you know [05:08] platform today for millions of people [05:11] across this country and I I I grew up [05:13] right next to you guys in Nebraska I [05:15] have lots of relatives in Iowa and and [05:18] on a farm and we know how much we depend [05:21] on AM radio for our our news and our [05:24] connection to the world Troy Miller is [05:27] president and CEO of nrb the National [05:30] Religious broadcasters Association he's [05:33] kind enough to join us live on this [05:34] Thursday morning on News Talk 1540 KX [05:38] obviously KX is a 50,000 watt Clear [05:40] Channel station first station in America [05:43] to sign on begin its life with that full [05:46] power and Clear Channel signal that was [05:48] in July of [05:49] 1942 and it was founded for the [05:52] agriculture Community as the stories go [05:55] because America needed a big 50,000 watt [05:59] voice to speak to folks in rural areas [06:02] and that's a mission that that we take [06:04] very seriously today even though the [06:06] studio is in a tower town of some size [06:09] we're speaking to a lot of folks who [06:12] this is the connecting thread where the [06:15] FM signals don't travel as far as you [06:17] knowe and you know how frustrating is it [06:20] these days when we assume we should have [06:21] cell signal and streaming and everything [06:24] else from the palm of our hand literally [06:26] and the reality of the situation is [06:28] nobody's in Ed a better method for [06:30] blanket coverage than AM [06:33] radio that's exactly right you're [06:36] exactly right I I like I said I grew up [06:38] on a rural Farm just over the Border in [06:41] in Iowa they over by the other North [06:43] West corner by Sous City Iowa you know [06:45] and I remember my grandfather we [06:47] listened to this station we'd listen to [06:49] the AG report we we were a small farm [06:52] but but we listen to my grandpa always [06:54] wanted to know what the pork prices were [06:57] uh that were going on with the corn [06:58] prices and and this our our connection [07:00] as you said that was the rural [07:02] connection and AM radio has has really [07:04] filled that in um uh o over the years [07:08] and and a lot of people still depend [07:10] upon that and still listen to that we [07:11] listen to AM radio when we're out in the [07:13] fields [07:15] constantly you were probably picking up [07:17] kscj or WX or some of those big signals [07:21] it sounds like yeah kscj uh for sure uh [07:26] that we we picked up out there on the [07:28] farm one of the good Iowa Almanac and [07:31] Iowa Business Report Affiliates uh been [07:33] there since I think [07:35] 1927 all right so you know and you [07:37] mentioned the the content of the message [07:40] the the possibility of censorship due to [07:43] that and I don't discount that but I I [07:48] think a lot of this has to do with [07:50] money Mr Miller because the the concept [07:54] is right now people can drive their cars [07:57] and get radio for free but that's in [07:59] competition with these Partnerships that [08:01] the automakers have set up with all of [08:04] these other things and and it seems to [08:06] me it's a bigger play that it's AM radio [08:09] under the excuse of electric vehicles oh [08:12] there's interference and we can't figure [08:13] out how to fix it that's how it's [08:15] starting but pretty soon the whole point [08:17] is they want their hand on your credit [08:19] card do they not oh a absolutely you [08:23] you've really hit hit the nail right on [08:25] the head with that one so uh again [08:28] coming from an engineering ground we [08:30] looked at this you know very early on uh [08:33] what was being said about you know the [08:34] interference with with you know AM radio [08:37] causing and that and even the government [08:40] GAO the government Accounting Office did [08:41] a did a a investigation to this the [08:45] paper on this and said look the the the [08:48] part to really prevent this from [08:50] happening in the cars about $35 or less [08:53] and that when you look at that as [08:55] compared to the total cost of the car [08:56] that's really insignificant the real [08:59] issue is what is now called being called [09:01] the digital dashboard uh we all know [09:04] that we get the cars today get these new [09:06] cars today and they have these you know [09:08] very large screens on them they're [09:11] connected via cell service to the [09:13] internet your maps are are are updated [09:17] you can get access to certain uh um [09:20] applications and websites and browsing [09:22] and that and for the most part that for [09:25] a while was you know a free service [09:27] connected through your cell phone but [09:29] now it it's really looking at the [09:32] millions of dollars that people are [09:35] going to get through the subscription [09:37] Services of these connected cars and [09:40] free overthe a radio is a real [09:43] competition and impovement to that why [09:45] would I spend $9.99 a month $ 14.99 a [09:48] month or $299 a month whatever it is um [09:51] for a service in my car that I can just [09:54] turn turn a radio dial and tune in and [09:58] get for free as I'm traveling across [10:01] Iowa or any other state in this this [10:02] country so that that really is the issue [10:05] that came early on that the car [10:07] manufacturers kind of let the cat out of [10:09] the bag and really admitted this is [10:11] about who is going to control that [10:14] digital dashboard who's going to control [10:16] those subscriptions uh services and [10:19] ultimately who's going to control the [10:21] information uh that people are able to [10:23] receive in their [10:25] vehicles so this had some momentum like [10:29] last year but they sort of ran out of [10:31] time and then there was the thought that [10:35] well uh new Administration in Washington [10:37] so therefore this may not be as big a [10:40] deal it's still a big deal because again [10:43] of of and I I'm not a fan of telling [10:46] manufacturers what they need to put into [10:48] a vehicle necessarily but this has [10:50] Public Safety components and just [10:52] because one election went one way [10:54] doesn't mean that this doesn't come back [10:56] again the law is important for that [10:57] purpose too [10:59] that's that's that's correct and and so [11:02] we we are a free market you know country [11:05] and we typically like to see the market [11:08] uh um um decide the market drivers [11:11] decide the the future of of certain [11:13] things in technology you can remember [11:15] you know whether DVDs or Blu-Rays went [11:18] but you really said it this is a public [11:20] safety issue but it's also a public [11:23] access issue to information you know as [11:26] our country was founded and you talked [11:29] about [11:29] the founding of excuse me your radio [11:32] station you know one of the key things [11:34] that Congress put into the law of most [11:37] of the communications related uh laws [11:40] and legislation was that that [11:44] public interest programming public [11:47] access to programming was something that [11:49] was key uh for America that people [11:51] should have free access to this and so [11:54] that was created right away with the the [11:56] way markets worked on Advertising so [11:58] we're not saying in the future there [12:00] might be something different there might [12:01] be technology that comes out that can [12:03] replace AM radio as an emergency system [12:06] but what we are saying is the American [12:09] Consumer uh a disservice is being paid [12:12] to them from both a safety standpoint um [12:17] and which is primary but also for an [12:19] information access standpoint if they're [12:22] forced to have to pay for this [12:25] information rather than get information [12:27] that's already available to them you [12:29] know free over the airwaves well finally [12:32] switching back to the mission of your [12:33] organization as you knowe there are so [12:35] many different ways that folks can [12:37] communicate people of faith can [12:39] communicate these days and you have your [12:41] big annual Gathering oh my not even a [12:43] month away tell us about that for those [12:45] who might be [12:47] interested yeah not not even a month [12:49] away and let me just let me expound on [12:51] that because the nrb convention uh will [12:53] be in in um great mine Texas just on the [12:56] north side of Dallas a five minutes from [12:58] Dallas uh Fort Worth Airport uh uh there [13:02] it is the largest gathering of Christian [13:04] communicators Christian broadcasters [13:07] program producers churches as I said [13:09] filmmakers podcasters Publishers authors [13:12] uh anybody who's in Christian [13:14] Communications will be there uh we have [13:16] nearly 5,000 attendees last year we'll [13:19] have uh over 260 booths on our on our uh [13:24] uh 40 50,000 square foot exhibit floor [13:27] uh covering everything from Ministries [13:29] that are on the air to people that can [13:31] help you if you think you want to get [13:32] into uh Christian Communications and [13:35] matter of fact just to hit our last [13:37] topic last year we had invited all the [13:39] presidential candidates to come and [13:41] speak uh at that the only one who [13:44] accepted and came is now president Trump [13:46] and um during his speech last year uh he [13:50] reiterated his support for AM radio and [13:53] free AM radio uh at that convention and [13:56] gave his commitment on this so so we we [13:58] have the highest level of commitment for [14:01] for this uh Bill to go through and we do [14:03] think it will go through and be pushed [14:05] through this year we're not in election [14:07] year it's easier for for the Congress to [14:09] focus on these but the but the [14:10] convention if you're in broadcasting [14:13] think you're in broadcasting and [14:15] everybody is today if you have a [14:16] Facebook page a social media presence [14:19] then you're a Christian Communicator uh [14:21] out there if you want to know how to [14:23] better Reach people and and how and [14:26] where the technolog is going today and [14:28] what are the key you know legislative [14:30] Regulatory and culture cultural issues [14:34] um are inrb convention is the place to [14:36] be nrbc convention.org is the website [14:40] with all the information nrbc [14:42] convention.org Mr Miller thanks so much [14:44] for taking the time always good to talk [14:46] to another midwesterner good luck with [14:48] the uh conference but good luck with [14:50] this AM radio for every vehicle [14:52] act well thank you for having me today [14:54] and and a and a hearty uh uh hello to [14:58] all of my friends there in Iowa [15:00] absolutely take good care Troy Miller is [15:03] the president and CEO of nrb that's the [15:06] National Religious broadcasters [15:08] Association and their big gathering at [15:10] the end of next month is in Texas nrb [15:14] convention.org is where you go for more [15:16] information
