WEEU Radio: A New Chapter with John & Kristine Treese

WEEU owners John & Kristine Treese touch on:

• The future of AM radio
• Adapting to technology changes (streaming, sports coverage, listener habits)
• Social media strategy and its role in growth
• Commitment to local voices and community engagement
• Local studios, local employees, local business support
• Expanded sports coverage (including video and underrepresented sports)
• Partnerships with nonprofits and charities
• Adding more locally produced content
• Continued focus on local high school sports

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:10

Welcome to another edition of County Connection. I'm your host, Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach. As always, we have a special program today, but we're kind of mixing mediums. We're on BCTV, you may be watching on YouTube, you may be watching on uh the BCTV municipal channel, but our guests today are the owners of WEEU 830 AM Radio, and we are proud to have John and Kristen Triese. Uh John, Christine, sorry. John is the CEO of the Tree Group, and uh Christine is the president of the Treece Media Group. Really glad to have you on the show today. Glad to be here. So let's start before we get into WEU EEU history. I always like uh people to get a little bit of sense of who my guests are. So I'm gonna start with Christine. Just give us a little bit where did you grow up and what's the background that pulled you into an interest in radio?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Great question. So I grew up in Montgomery County. So I grew up in Oaks and then high school moved to Villanova. So I have been all over the county there. Um we now live in the Limerick area. So yeah, John likes to call it what?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Berks County Light.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

That's what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

And every time I see uh Commissioner Leinbach, you always say, like, we're gonna get you to move to Berks County. You're gonna be here. I know you will, then you know, but anyway.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

So what brought you into radio? What's the interest?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

John, so I was my fault. Uh before WEU, I had no radio experience. I was in financial software, you know, in the tech industry for over a decade. And when that came to an end, our contract that we had ended, it was all right, what was our next step? And John has always had a passion for radio. You know, he wanted to go into the industry, and why not? Seems like the perfect time.

SPEAKER_04 2:20

So John Marconi Triest. Maybe not quite that far. Maybe not that far. So John, where where did you grow up? And so since your wife has already made it clear you're the one that really had the interest in the radio, your fault.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Uh where'd you grow up and tell us how you uh became interested in radio? Well, I'm a transplant to southeastern Pennsylvania. I grew up in Central PA. So uh Sealins Grove, I'm sure you've heard of Susquehanna University. Absolutely. There's a little bit north of Harrisburg, but um Snyder County. Snyder's up in that area, and I know the commissioners there. Yeah, that's that's my that was my county. Um but after college, uh moved to Conchaha, and I'd lived in Conchahauken as I was figuring myself out, and uh was in radio and always wanted to work in radio. I got my first job when I was in college at a real radio station, commercial radio station, uh playing soft rock music in the overnights, like literally all my friends are out partying, doing their thing. I'm in the middle of a farm field in Wrightsville playing Michael Bolton and Celine Dion records for people to listen to overnight. That's a pretty good signal that you're a radio guy. And you know what though? For what yeah, it wasn't just it wasn't all that, it was a lot of that. But yeah, it was it was one of those things where I'd found a job, found a position where I I would I remember I would stand outside and say, like, I can't believe I'm getting paid for this. I can't believe I'm getting paid to do something I'm enjoying as much as I am. So uh, but that passion always stayed with me. It it's hard as the industry has moved on, it was hard for me to forge the path to make that a full-time vocation. So at one point I had to make a choice and ended up changing my world a little bit and went into uh financial technology software, and that's where I ended up meeting Christine, and my path went for at least a decade. Um, but I always stayed involved in radio. I would uh volunteer or work for uh a small suburban radio station in the Lansdale area, where they were like family to me, um, and stayed involved with that. I've done various uh, you know, kept it alive with hobbies and whatnot, but was always passionate and always looking for that dream of like, well, is there something available for sale? Could I eventually become get into ownership? Could I do something with this? And like as Christine was saying, when our last uh contract was coming to an end, we had to figure out what we were gonna do next. And uh WEU just happened to be up for sale looking for a new buyer, and things seemed to make sense, and we talked about it, and Christine agreed. So here we are.

SPEAKER_04 5:00

And you are right, I push everyone I know. Where do you live? Oh, you don't live in Berks County, you gotta come to Berks County. But I want to make it clear, I'm excited, that's why I have you on the show, uh, that you chose to buy what historically has been an anchor radio station uh for Berks County, the local, the local connection. And so briefly, WEEU uh for people who've been here long enough, remember when it was 8 50, uh not 8 30 uh a.m. Uh people who've been here long enough know that Broadcasting Square, where the Target and Weiss and uh Michaels and other places are located now, is called Broadcasting Square and Broadcasting Road because that's where the towers for WEEU used to be. They're now up on uh off of I-78, uh not far from Charlottesville. Uh WEEU's history as I look at it and and my memories is very much about the community and oriented to the community. As long as I can remember, it was owned by the Reading Eagle, and it was a great partnership uh for many, many years uh because you could go in as a company and buy ads in the newspaper, uh, buy ads on WEEU, and as uh the Reading Eagle built up their website uh in the late 90s, buy ads on uh their uh uh uh their website. Uh but when the Reading Eagle sold WEEU that represented a change. Uh and we won't get into the sale of uh of uh the Reading Eagle, but WEEU had new ownership. Not gonna say anything negative, uh, but it was a struggle. Uh uh feedback continued. Uh when I first became a commissioner in 2008, uh, I'm trying to think if Jack Holcomb was there. I believe it might have been Mighty Mike was in place already. Uh Mighty Mike Faust did a great job. Uh but the sale uh and we lost a lot of really good people. And when you came into the picture, I think WEEU was in a really difficult position. Uh I observed it myself, going in, uh doing feedback shows, talking to staff that I knew there and staff that had left. Uh so the question is I know part of the answer, your passion for radio, but why did you buy WEEU? Why not uh why not another radio station somewhere else?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

It's uh it it w what what's interesting is that WEEU had a very unique setup in that it was a it was an AM radio station that was still on the air. And you I I've seen plenty of stations for sale, and most of the time you were getting a license. And the station is for sale because the transmitter site, the tower site was sold, and there's no place to put it. So the mountain you have to climb to rebuild something, it's just not feasible. So WEU was still very much on the air. It was still producing local programming, it still had a very loyal and engaged audience, and it owned its property. So all of those things combined, well, it just also still had a very uh loyal advertiser base. So you have all of that stuff still there, uh declining, mind you, right, but it's there. The foundation was solid enough. It hadn't shut down. No, and the the foundation was solid enough that I that would as we were talking about it, we really felt that it has if if we came in and could apply what we have learned through our other experiences, you know, my my radio experience and what we've learned in the uh fintech world, um, that this thing actually would have a fighting chance to survive and we could do the things with WEU that will be important and continue that in the community.

SPEAKER_04 9:24

And we mentioned before the show the signal when they moved the towers from what is today broadcasting square up to I-78, it actually had a significant benefit for the reach of the signal. And so while local people look at WEEU as the voice of Berks County, uh we often forget that there are regular listeners in Montgomery County, Chester County, Lancaster, all around uh the area, but there's no question this is a Berks County oriented station. Was there anything about Berks County that caused you to say, we think we can succeed where prior ownership was struggling?

SPEAKER_01 10:11

I I mean feel free to add to this, but Berks County, it Berks County and this market is on its own little island in many respects. You are we're not Philadelphia, we're not the Greater Delaware Valley, we're not Lancaster, we're not Harrisburg, Lebanon, that area, we're not the Lehigh Valley, we're not Scranton Wilkesbury, we are on this on this little island where it's hard to get attention from any of those outside markets. So being a sizable radio station uh with a with a very solid signal and reaching in beyond the the just the confines of the Berks County, Berks County's map drawn lines, um we have a captive audience of people here who need to be served, and they're not being served. So I I felt that there's a a very unique opportunity for WEU to I mean WE had done that for years, right? Yeah. So there is nothing has changed with the exception of you know digital media has changed, but nothing has changed in the market layout to make that any different. WEU just needed to serve the market better.

SPEAKER_04 11:16

And that is actually from somebody looking in from the outside, uh, that shows a lot of wisdom. Because what people don't realize, you look at Berks County, Berks County has its own TV news Berks Edition, WFMZ. They don't have the Lehigh County edition or the Northampton County edition, but they do have a Berks County edition. If you look at Berks County Living Magazine, focused on Berks County. I know the owner. He has the Lehigh Valley magazine, focuses on a much wider area. Even something like uh Pendot's what we call uh the MPO, the municipal planning, Southeast is five counties. Uh Lehigh Valley is the Lehigh Valley. Berks County is its own MPO. So there is a lot of focus, and I think that you are right that WEU provides a unique opportunity that another radio station in another market might not uh have provided. So let's talk about one of the first things that you did. You had to have walked in and say, whoa, this place has been neglected for a while. And the reason I know that is because uh I would come in each month and there was paint, new walls. Talk about why you made that move as quickly as you did.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Well, I think you take take it a step back. Christine had not the first time she saw WEU was on the property was the day we took ownership and had the keys. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

So tell me, before he says, what was your first impression?

SPEAKER_00 13:00

I uh I was shocked, actually. And not in a good way? Not in a good way. Um it was a building that had been neglected, you know, and everything about WEU had been neglected. The the people had been neglected, the technology had been neglected, but the building itself going in, it was like a dark dungeon/slash like frat house. Like people hadn't treated it with respect or love in a long time. So one of the very first things we had to do was re-energize it by doing a renovation. And we renovated the top floor, and it was actually great for everyone working there because we were all so close together. It really was like a team bonding experience during the renovation, too. But it was about showing running, showing Berg's County that we care about this business. We are here to stay. We're not relocating. It was an investment in that property and in our team. And now it is a beautiful, pleasant place to work.

SPEAKER_04 14:03

Beautiful studio. Uh, I don't know if you call I'm not a radio guy, although I've done a lot of radio. Uh, but you have like a backup studio that used to be the news, uh, the newsroom. Uh what you've done in the main studio, absolutely love the work there.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 14:21

But at the same time, you also address the people side. Yes. Talk about some of the things that you did because there was in a noticeable emotional improvement in the way people acted when I came in, and also what you were able to get them to do, and they are continuing to do on social media, things I never thought I'd see Bob McCool do in particular.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Um if you want to add to it. Go for it, please. Yeah. I think that going in there, I won't speak about the the past ownership beyond that. We're there every day, you know, and I think that having your team there, your leadership there every day really matters. I think that because you're you're leading by example. So our dedication, our passion, and then surrounding ourselves with also people that are there to be a part of making WEEU what it can be and what it will be, I think really resonated. Um then we did a lot of things that brought us together from a culture standpoint. I know that culture is like one of those buzzwords that everyone uses in corporate speech, because it's where I come from. But it is real. Um corporate DNA. Yes. It's a real thing. And so it just was a matter of bringing us together and also doing that social media, making Bob McCool sing and dance. You know, it's it's funny and it's fun. And you want to have, I mean, you know, there's there's really challenging times at work, but it's also nice to have that relationship where you can have fun. And that's one thing that I think we've done.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

The you you mentioned the the difference in uh like the feel when you walked in uh and and the morale in the station. I think the renovation was one of the first steps that was incredibly important for us to do. It it A showed the community commitment, right? And and like you said, but when you were working in an environment that is d depressed and dilapidated, that is not being given any kind of love or care, that gets into your work, that gets into your psyche, and you Well feels like a sinking ship. You become Yeah, and you become part of that. So then you don't, you're not you're not operating to the to the best of your ability. You don't have the the vision of the future of what could be or what you can do. And what was interesting, you know, it's uh the building's been there since 1969, and it's had various renovations and alterations throughout the course of its time. And the technology, as as you know, just look around this studio, how much it has changed just in the past 15, 20 years, you had remnants of all of that just on top of changes on top of changes on top of changes that all gathered dust on top of dust on top of dust. And you when you get to the point where people get that feeling that nothing is changing or moving forward, people don't care anymore. So when we tore all of that out, when we rewired, did all of this work, new studios and carpet, and ceilings that weren't rusted and smoke covered and bright lighting, and all of a sudden there's this feeling of of just the life in the building again. Energized. It it it it energized everybody. And it made a huge difference in the people who are in our building and how they're performing and how they feel about the place that they come to work every day. And I think everybody has uh there's a there's a ski uh a skip in people's steps that they didn't have when we first walked through that building.

SPEAKER_04 17:50

So people, at the end of the day, any organization rises or falls on the quality, the DNA of our people. And by DNA, I don't mean that, you know, ethnic or anything like that. It's the culture and DNA that the leadership demonstrates. It's interesting to me that you're there every day. Uh to me, the most successful restaurants are restaurants where the owners are there every day. Businesses, I look at family businesses that are successful generation after generation. It's when the family, the leadership is there every day. They're part of that. Uh talk a little bit about uh what you've done for your staff and how you believe that that's impacted uh their commitment to not just radio but to WEEU in your future, and then we'll get into some of your future uh plans.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Well, I I like to think we provide opportunity. Um so w we understand people's passions and we want to learn what they are interested in, what are the things that moves them, and we want to try to do what we can to bring that into what we do. And it gives it gives the employee, gives our team member that feeling that we are trying to be plugged in, that we that we care, and um and we we've seen that move forward. We also offer benefits that I mean, in my opinion, are just table stakes really, but that weren't available for a long time over there. Um so it's little things like you know providing health coverage and providing vacation times and um you know in ample vacation days and being flexible. But I think the other side of this too is Christine and I both while we're there every day, we're not just sitting in our offices, just sitting in our offices to say that we're there every day. We are actively participating alongside with every one of our team members. And whether it's, you know, I'm dealing with technical nonsense that goes on, and it does, it's just part of part of life, or helping somebody with production or filling in when somebody needs, you know, has is sick. I'm the one who's typically there who has to end up who fills in. So I'm there right along in the fight with them, just like you are right along there in the fight doing many other things along with the other side of the organization too. The business side. Sales, marketing, everything, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:27

So some of your plans for the future, uh sports coverage, and specifically you mentioned uh in some notes to me, underrepresented sports. What do you what do you what are you looking for in the future as far as the community uh and connection?

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Well, we've um one of the first things we did when we when we took over, and this was an idea we brought to Bob McCool before, like when we were just trying to figure out who was gonna be on the team. And it was the idea of hey, you do a fantastic job providing sports coverage and play by play. A fun they're phenomenal at what they do. Bob McCool, uh, and this it's gonna sound like a I I don't owe you anything, Bob. Um but the um I'll back you on this. Bob is excellent, but he is play by play. It's he is meticulous, he knows, he he has all the details for it. I don't know how he does it, but having listened to him before we even bought the the radio station, you I I knew what was there. But to think that then if we could take that and put that, put a video product behind it to let people see the picture of the game, we can do it today, uh has really elevated what WEEU does from a sports sports broadcasting perspective. And we did that um with our our first football season, the the fall of twenty four, and it's been going strong ever since we've had I mean this basketball season is one of the strongest viewership uh years that we have had so far, it just continues to grow. But that's football and basketball, and football and basketball get all of the attention. They always do. For for good reason, but there's plenty of other sports and plenty of other people who are participating who don't get that that attention. And that's where some of the changes that Christine brought to the table with social media when we first took over has given a new life to that level of coverage that wasn't there before. We can talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Yeah, so we've expanded to paying attention to other sports as well, um, and also giving a lot of attention to our female athletes. Yeah, so it is with our staff that has grown, you know, making sure that we're able to cover more. So that is definitely something that we're we're looking to explore more of, you know, this year and into next year.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Like tennis and volleyball and bowling, pickleball.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah, swimming, wrestling, all of it.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

And not just having that from a like getting people to the games to share things on social media and provide results and and and we I mean, we've caught some very interesting footage at some of those games, like great plays and things that have happened, but also then, you know, providing talk programming that lets these teams and their coaches come in and actually have that conversation and talk about what they do and talk about the passion that they have for their sport and the how their teams operate, which you know, it's it there's stories that aren't being shared, and the slice of sports program that we have every Thursday night has taken off in its own right, giving that giving that spotlight to those groups that typically, you know, they're they're a footnote in the newspaper and creates different uh audiences.

SPEAKER_04 23:27

Absolutely. I mean, your audience, uh and I've talked to Tony about this, she's gonna work to create her own fingerprint on feedback. She isn't Jack Holcomb, she isn't Mighty Mike Faust, and she isn't Bill Saunders. And I said the same thing to Bill when he took over for Mighty Mike. Don't worry about what he did. You you develop your own, and uh, she's our first female uh feedback uh talk show host. I think she'll do a great job. The difference for her is she doesn't come from the radio side, she's a podcaster, and so she's focused right now on the show and uh going to work on the back end, uh doing the mixer and all of the buttons. She's so afraid of that. I told her don't even worry about that right now. Uh focus on the show. So uh in the time that's left, uh you've talked about the local focus. What are your what do you consider right now your current top shows?

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Well, Mornings with Mike is is our flagship lead-in program. It it has uh quite a history. Mike's been with WEEU for well over two. And he's fantastic. Yeah, well over well over a decade. The audience loves him and it's continuing to grow. Um our ratings came out in you know just well this week. And uh it proves that the audience is paying attention to Mike and they love waking up with him. So the combination of Bob McCool and and Mike Keller has has been very good phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

And they've added Trey Smith as well. So they have the Gen Z perspective, which is always fun because they all pick on each other multiple generations there.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

And feedback with Bill Saunders, because you have to I have to have to mention that because it's you know, Bill almost made it to five years on feedback, and in that time build up a fantastic following. And and like you said, don't worry what the guy before you did, build your own, and he did, and he created a fantastic uh audience and a great program. And you know, when Bill needed to retire, it's one of the things. I'm not gonna find another Bill, so we found a Tony. And now Tony will be building her feedback up the same way. But the one thing that those two programs, which I think are leads outside of uh sports coverage that we do, um the reason why those are so popular and why I think those are our top programs is they are local. And they are the ultimate goal. I I know right now we have a syndicated program in the midday, and our afternoon uh time slot is also uh the Dave Ramsey show is there. It is simply a placeholder. Uh the goal is live and local as much of the day as we can possibly make it, but making sure it's relevant.

SPEAKER_04 26:06

Well, it has to be it has to be quality. So, an example, last night it was at an event, I had a woman uh come up to me and uh she asked what I thought of Tony Reese's new show. She said, I heard you on Tony's show. And I had the same conversation with her, and then I mentioned, you know, it she's going to create a different audience. And she said to me, You're right. I never listened to WEEU. I'm only listening now because I know Tony Reese. And she followed her on her podcast. So it's going to take some time, and I am sure we'll hear from uh listeners that say, you know, why don't you have this? Why don't you used to do this? It's it's developing the new WEU, but I think what is so valuable here is WEEU remains the voice of Berks County, and your commitment is to make it even more so. Instead of falling into the trap that I think many of the AM stations do, is going out and you know, getting uh pro paying for programming that's national programming. And I'm not saying all national programming is bad, but the power for me for WEU is that it is the voice of Berks County, and your commitment to Berks County is just exceptional. Closing closing comments in the few seconds that we have left. I'll go to you, uh John, and then Christine, closing comment uh from you.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

I would just say stay tuned. Um not to be cliche, but stay tuned because uh that we have a a ton of things that will be getting announced here over the course of 2026, and it's all very exciting, and it's going to be things that will be a brand new phase and a brand new future for WEEU. Christine.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Um thank you for being a listener. Thank you for following along with this story as we, you know, the transition and evolution of WEEU. Whether you're you know checking out Jack's backyard or waking up with mornings with Mike, thank you for being a part of the family.

SPEAKER_04 28:17

Well, and thank you for joining us for another edition of County Connection. Really appreciate uh John and Christine being guests. And I hope if you aren't listening to WEEU 8 30 a.m., give it a try. Mike in the morning, uh feedback, uh, the other shows, uh, go to their website. Your website is 830we.com. 830weeu.com. I'm Commissioner Christian Leinbach saying thank you for joining us for another edition of County Connection.