Horror author Stephen King’s rock ‘n’ roll radio station is going to continue rocking around the clock and into the new year.
Two businessmen purchased WKIT-FM from the best-selling writer after he announced that the station and two others would go silent after New Year’s Eve. The buyers are the Maine-based duo Greg Hawes and Jeff Solari, who formed Rock Lobster Radio Group to run the station.
“WKIT is the most legendary station in the region. It has tremendous history. We couldn’t let it die,” they said in a statement.
King is a lifelong rocker and performed with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band that featured literary icons performing for charity. He announced earlier this month that at age 77 he thought it was time to say goodbye to the radio stations.
“I’m sorry as hell to be closing down WKIT and its sister stations,” King posted earlier this month on social media. “I held off the suits for as long as I could.”
General manager Ken Wood, who has been with the stations for 10 years, also acknowledged the end of an era but appreciated the Kings’ commitment to local broadcasting.
“Independent, locally owned radio stations used to be the norm,” Wood said. “There’re only a few left in Maine, and we’re lucky we had these three as long as we did.”
The prolific author bought WLBZ in 1983, renaming it WZON in homage to his 1979 novel The Dead Zone. The station was sold in 1990 but re-acquired by the Kings three years later. Despite King’s passion for radio and his efforts to maintain local and independent stations, the three stations have consistently lost money, with King personally covering the deficits.
Since getting into the terrestrial radio business in 1983, King has written over 50 novels, including well-known works such as It, Misery, The Dark Tower series, Pet Sematary, Under the Dome, Skeleton Crew, The Green Mile and 11/22/63, among many others.
