Bangor, Maine, the broadcast area of Stephen King radio station WKIT, which has found a new owner. Photo Credit: Vasiliymeshko
Earlier in December, reports indicated that multiple Stephen King-owned radio stations would shut down at 2024’s end. Now, one of these Maine-based stations has reportedly been saved thanks to a last-minute purchase.
Regional outlets just recently shed light on that eleventh-hour sale, about three weeks after the Portland, Maine-born author revealed plans to cease operating the stations in question.
77-year-old King has long owned those stations (WKIT 100.3 FM, WZLO 620 AM, and WZON 103.1 FM), but in a statement about the shutdowns expressed a desire to get his business affairs in better order.
Meanwhile, general manager Ken Wood acknowledged the stations’ sizable cumulative losses – with King having absorbed the multimillion-dollar hit over the years.
Nevertheless, WKIT 100.3 FM (described as the most popular of the three stations) has found a buyer days before its expected closure and is set to continue broadcasting as usual, per Maine’s WABI 5.
According to the same outlet and comments from WKIT on-air talent, that buyer is Bangor-based businessman Jeff Solari, who, along with his business partner Greg Hawes, is said to have finalized the deal.
As laid out on his LinkedIn profile, Solari has considerable experience in media as well as radio specifically. Plus, Solari serves as president of Rock Lobster Media, billed as the owner of Sports Chowdah, “Maine’s only free, weekly sports email newsletter.”
Additionally, Rock Lobster “is acquiring a popular local Bangor-Brewer restaurant,” its LinkedIn description shows, “with more to come.”
In other words, the purchase, the financials of which haven’t been publicly revealed, appears to make sense on multiple levels for Solari. At the time of writing, King himself didn’t seem to have addressed WKIT’s new ownership on social media, and it looks as though WZLO and WZON are still set to go dark in a matter of days.
However, the positive ending for WKIT arrives against the backdrop of continued cuts across radio generally, referring to both terrestrial and satellite.
Sweeping iHeartMedia layoffs last month affected team members at stations including Los Angeles’ KFI 640, for instance. Also in November, Cumulus Media moved forward with layoffs of its own.
And on the satellite side, a major strategic realignment is underway at SiriusXM, which posted lackluster Q3 financials in November and has suffered a material stock-price slip since 2024’s beginning.