Good news for headbangers in Bangor: The Maine rock radio station that Stephen King owned for nearly 20 years will live on after all.
WKIT-FM, which King last month announced would cease operations after Dec. 31, has been purchased by entrepreneurs Greg Hawes and Jeff Solari, the Associated Press reports.
King and his wife, author Tabitha King, bought WKIT in 1995 along with WNSW-AM. WKIT has a mainstream rock format; on Thursday morning, the station played songs including “Far Behind” by Candlebox, “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith, and “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin.
King’s ownership of the station was natural—the author is a longtime rock fan, and has professed his love for the music of AC/DC, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sex Pistols, and John Mellencamp.
He is himself a musician, having played guitar for the all-author superband Rock Bottom Remainders, which also included, at various times, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Barbara Kingsolver, Scott Turow, and James McBride.
Last month on the social platform Threads, King announced that WKIT would shut down, writing, “I’m sorry as hell to be closing down WKIT and its sister stations. I held off the suits for as long as I could.”
Hawes and Solari announced in a statement that they had bought the station, which will now be run by the Rock Lobster Radio Group.
“WKIT is the most legendary station in the region,” they said. “It has tremendous history. We couldn’t let it die.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
