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Zone Corp radio stations will cease broadcasting this month
Zone Corporation, Stephen King’s radio station company, announced on Monday that it will cease operations at the end of this month.
The general manager of Zone Corp, Ken Wood, announced Monday that the company’s multiple eastern Maine radio stations, including popular classic rock station WKIT 100.3 FM, along with WZLO 620 AM and WZON 103.1 FM, would stop broadcasting on Dec. 31 after more than 40 years.
King, who first bought WZON in 1983 and later came to acquire WZLO and WKIT, said in a statement that while he remains in good health, he is “feeling his 77 years,” and said it’s time to “get his business affairs in better order.” For him, that means saying goodbye to Zone Corp and the other stations he’s “personally kept afloat and on the air all these years.”
“While radio across the country has been overtaken by giant corporate broadcasting groups, I’ve loved being a local, independent owner all these years,” said King. “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. Tabby and I are proud to have been a part of that for more than four decades.”
According to King and Wood, the stations have consistently lost money over the decades, and while King has covered the losses over the years, they have been significant.
King has been a lifelong rock and roll fan, and said he bought the stations out of his love for music and as a longtime listener in the Bangor area. The first station he purchased in 1983 was called WLBZ at the time, but King had the call letters changed to WZON as a reference to King’s book “The Dead Zone.”
Wood, who has served as general manager for the past decade, said he was proud of what Zone Corp stations had done over the past 40 years.
“Independent, locally owned radio stations used to be the norm. There’re only a few left in Maine, and we’re lucky we had these three as long as we did,” said Wood.
The company said it would issue no further comments or communications on the closure.
Comments
Yeah, I hope she is having a wonderful life, she was a sweet kid.
Stephen King’s Zone Corporation has found a buyer for the remainder of his Bangor ME stations that went silent at the start of the year.
J Hanson’s Mix Maine Media will purchase 620 WZON Bangor, 103.1 WZLO Dover-Foxcroft, and 98.3 W252CT Bangor from King for $125,000. $75,000 of the purchase price will be a promissory note of a donation to the Heart of Maine United Way. Hanson will also pay for half of the cost of the removal of the two towers at Zone’s studios in Bangor, one of which was used by WZON and the other by W252CT.
Mix Maine Media entered the Bangor market in November 2024 with a five-year LMA of Port Broadcasting’s two AMs and three translators. At the time they flipped 1340 WBAN Veazie/94.1 W231CH Bangor/95.1 W236DP Bald Mountain to a simulcast of their AC “107.9 The Mix” WFMX Skowhegan/Augusta and 1230 WGUY Veazie/96.1 W241CP Bangor to a simulcast of Classic Country “True Country 93.5” WCTB Fairfield. The company also owns Sports “1160 The Score” WSKW Skowhegan.
King had previously found a last minute buyer for Rock 100.3 WKIT Brewer as Jeff Solari and Greg Hawes’ Rock Lobster Radio LLC’s agreed to acquire the station for $500,000 right ahead of its planned sign-off date with an immediate LMA.
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