After 40 years, Stephen King’s independent radio stations are going dark. On Monday, the beloved author announced that all three of his Maine-based radio stations — WZON, WZLO, and WKIT — will be shutting down after December 31st.
The decision was made as King is attempting to “get his business affairs in better order,” according to a news release from The Zone Corporation, the company that ran the stations. The release also explains that the three stations “consistently have lost money” over the past four decades, with King personally covering the losses.
Nonetheless, the closures don’t come lightly, with King himself saying, “While radio across the country has been overtaken by giant corporate broadcasting groups, I’ve loved being a local, independent owner all these years.”
Continuing, he expressed the gratitude that he and his wife, Tabitha King, have felt supporting the stations. “I’ve loved the people who’ve gone to these stations every day and entertained folks, kept the equipment running, and given local advertisers a way to connect with their customers,” he said. “Tabby and I are proud to have been a part of that for more than four decades.”
King first acquired WZON in 1983 when it was named WLBZ, and changed the name as a nod to his 1979 novel The Dead Zone. He’s owned the station ever since (except for a brief period in the early ‘90s), and it has become a home for “Retro Radio” in Maine.
WKIT was purchased after WZON, and has operated as a classic rock channel, referring to itself as “Stephen King’s Rock ’n’ Roll Station.” WZLO was purchased in 2001, and has broadcasted adult alternative music. The final broadcast of all three stations will be held on New Year’s Eve (December 31st), after which they will go dark. It’s unclear at this time if a new owner will be found for the stations.
“Independent, locally owned radio stations used to be the norm,” general manager Ken Wood said in a statement. “There’re only a few left in Maine, and we’re lucky we had these three as long as we did.”
In other Stephen King news, the film adaptation of ‘Salem’s Lot premiered on Max this past October, while new adaptations The Long Walk and Carrie are in the works. His latest novel, Holly, published in 2023.