WKIT

Last updated

WKIT
Broadcast area Bangor, Maine
Frequency 100.3 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding100.3 WKIT
Programming
Format Mainstream rock
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner The Zone Corporation
OperatorRock Lobster Radio, LLC
WZLO, WZON
History
First air date
February 14, 1979;45 years ago (1979-02-14)
Former call signs
  • WGUY-FM (1979–1987)
  • WKIT-FM (1987–2020)
Former frequencies
100.9 MHz (1979–1988)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 25747
Class B
ERP 16,000 watts
HAAT 269 meters (883 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 44°40′39″N68°45′15″W / 44.67750°N 68.75417°W / 44.67750; -68.75417
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.wkitfm.com

WKIT (100.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Brewer, Maine, serving the Bangor area of Central Maine. It airs a mainstream rock radio format. WKIT's main competitors are WWMJ, a classic rock station in Ellsworth, and WTOS, a mainstream rock station that simulcasts WTOS-FM from Skowhegan.

Contents

WKIT is part of the Zone Corporation, a Central Maine broadcasting group owned by authors Tabitha and Stephen King. Under a local marketing agreement, Jeff Solari and Greg Hawes operate the station through Rock Lobster Radio, LLC; an outright sale to that company is pending. WKIT has studios and offices on Broadway in Bangor. The transmitter is off Center Drive in Orrington, Maine. [2]

Unlike many U.S. radio stations, WKIT still has a strong presence of live local announcers in the studio. However, on the weekends the station carries some syndicated programming. WKIT also streams its programming on the Internet via the official station website. Notable on air personalities include the Rock and Roll Morning Show hosts Don Cookson and Mark "The Shark" Young, midday host Jason “Rock Dog” Roberts, afternoon host Scotty Moore, and simulcasting Nights With Alice Cooper .

On Stephen King's official website, there is an advertisement for WKIT. In his novel 11/22/63 , Jake saves most of the Dunning family, and when he comes back to 2011 he looks up Ellen Dunning (who was 7 in 1958) and calls her, learning she is a "jock for WKIT in Bangor, you know, a disk jockey?".

History

Following ten years of delays, [3] the station signed on February 14, 1979, [4] as WGUY-FM on 100.9 MHz. It was owned by Stone Communications along with WGUY (1250 AM); the stations simulcast a top 40 format, but WGUY-FM was able to operate 24 hours a day, in contrast to the AM station's daytime-only operation. [3] From the start, plans were in place to eventually separate the WGUY stations' programming; [3] on November 30, 1981, the AM station relaunched as Music of Your Life station WMLI, while WGUY-FM continued the contemporary hit radio programming. [5]

Stone Communications sold WGUY-FM and WGUY (1200 AM) to John Pineau's Sunspot Broadcasting for $1 million in 1987. [6] Pineau changed the call sign to WKIT-FM, relaunched the station with a "hip adult" format, added newscasts from the ABC Direction Network, and announced plans to move to 100.3 MHz with a larger signal. [7] WKIT-FM moved to 100.3 in October 1988. [8]

After filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, [9] Sunspot Broadcasting sold WKIT-FM and WKIT (AM) to Eric D. Hake and Raymond H. Lynch's H & L Broadcasting for $293,000 in 1991. [10] Author Stephen King, who already owned WZON, bought WKIT-FM and the AM station—by then WNSW—from H & L in 1995; while he planned no changes to WKIT's "Rock 100" programming or WNSW's news/talk format, [11] WNSW would be closed down on October 24, 1995. [12]

On December 2, 2024, King announced that WKIT as well as its sister stations WZLO and WZON would cease broadcasting at the end of the month, citing ongoing financial losses. [13] Subsequently, on December 23, Jeff Solari and Greg Hawes, through Rock Lobster Radio, announced that they would acquire WKIT, and would begin operating the station under a local marketing agreement on January 1, 2025. Solari had previously served as a reporter for WLBZ and a sports talk host for WZON and WEZQ, while Hawes owns restaurants and a marijuana dispensary in the Bangor area. [14] WZLO and WZON, whose closures went forward, would be separately sold to Mix Maine Media in February 2025. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WKIT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "WKIT". Radio-Locator.com.
  3. 1 2 3 Palmer, Chris (February 3–4, 1979). "New WGUY-FM ready to rock". Bangor Daily News . pp. ME 3, 10. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  4. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010. 2010. p. D-260.
  5. ↑ Palmer, Chris (November 28–29, 1981). "WMLI is born". Bangor Daily News . p. ME 3. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting . February 16, 1987. p. 71.
  7. ↑ Astbury, Carroll (July 16, 1987). "Brewer radio station to increase signal". Bangor Daily News. p. 21. Retrieved January 11, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "More power approved for Brewer station". Bangor Daily News . October 12, 1988. p. MW27. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Bankruptcy petitions are filed at Bangor court". Bangor Daily News . February 6, 1991. p. 19. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting . April 8, 1991. p. 61.
  11. ↑ "Stephen King buys 2 more radio stations". Bangor Daily News . Associated Press. June 17–18, 1995. p. A5. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  12. ↑ Kessell, Doug (October 25, 1995). "Bangor AM radio station signs off". Bangor Daily News . p. A5. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  13. ↑ Stephen King’s Zone Corp radio stations will cease broadcasting this month Bangor Daily News, December 2, 2024
  14. ↑ Venta, Lance (December 23, 2024). "Local Group Formed To Acquire WKIT". RadioInsight. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ Venta, Lance (February 4, 2025). "Stephen King Finds Buyer For Remainder Of His Bangor Stations". RadioInsight. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
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