Stephen King's Maine radio stations will go silent for good on New Year's Eve

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BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Stephen King’s raucous rock ‘n’ roll radio station is going silent at year’s end.

The renowned author and lifelong rocker who used to perform with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band that featured literary icons, said Monday that at age 77, it’s time to say good-bye to three Bangor, Maine, stations that have been bleeding money. King kept the stations afloat for decades, and he said he and his wife, Tabitha, are proud to have kept them going for so long.

“While radio across the country has been overtaken by giant corporate broadcasting groups, I’ve loved being a local, independent owner all these years,” King said in a statement. “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."

King’s foray into radio began at age 36 with his 1983 purchase of a radio station that was rebranded WZON in deference to his book, “The Dead Zone.” That station went through a few permutations before closing, and then being reacquired by King in 1990.

The ZONE Corporation's current lineup consists of WKIT-FM, which bills itself as “Stephen King's Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio Station," along with WZON-AM Retro Radio and an adult alternative station, WZLO-FM. They'll go off the air on Dec. 31.

Ken Wood, the stations' general manager, said he’s sad that the era is ending but happy that it happened. “Independent, locally owned radio stations used to be the norm. There are only a few left in Maine, and we’re lucky we had these three as long as we did,” he said.