Stephen King’s rock radio station won’t go silent after all

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — 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 good-bye 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.”

King’s foray into radio began in 1983 with the purchase of a radio station that was rebranded WZON in a nod to his book, “The Dead Zone.” That station closed before being acquired again by King in 1990.