WKIT (100.3 FM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station licensed to

Brewer, Maine Brewer is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor metropolitan area. The city is named after its first settler, Colonel John Brewer. The population was 9,672 at the 2020 census. Brewer is the sister city ...

, serving the Bangor area of Central Maine. It airs a

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. WKIT's main competitors are WWMJ, a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

station in Ellsworth, and WTOS, a mainstream rock station that simulcasts WTOS-FM from Skowhegan. Jeff Solari and Greg Hawes own WKIT through Rock Lobster Radio, LLC. The station has studios and offices on Broadway in Bangor. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off Center Drive in Orrington, Maine. 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 Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

''. The station went on the air in 1979 as

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

station WGUY-FM, the FM sister station to WGUY (1250 AM). It became WKIT-FM in 1987, initially with a "hip adult" format before shifting to rock. From 1995 to 2025, the station was part of the Zone Corporation, the broadcasting group owned by author

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

; after he announced the closure of Zone's stations—WKIT, WZLO, and WZON—at the end of 2024, Solari and Hawes bought WKIT and kept it on the air.

History

Following ten years of delays, the station signed on February 14, 1979, as WGUY-FM on 100.9 MHz. It was owned by Stone Communications along with WGUY (1250 AM); the stations simulcast a

format, but WGUY-FM was able to operate 24 hours a day, in contrast to the AM station's daytime-only operation. From the start, plans were in place to eventually separate the WGUY stations' programming; on November 30, 1981, the AM station relaunched as Music of Your Life station WMLI, while WGUY-FM continued the

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

programming. Stone Communications sold WGUY-FM and WGUY (1200 AM) to John Pineau's Sunspot Broadcasting for $1 million in 1987. Pineau changed the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

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. WKIT-FM moved to 100.3 in October 1988. After filing for

chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, 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. Author

, who already owned WZON, bought WKIT-FM and the AM station—by then WNSW—from H & L in 1995 for $800,000; WKIT, which was valued at $450,000, joined WZON as part of the Zone Corporation. While King planned no changes to WKIT's "Rock 100" programming or WNSW's

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

format, WNSW would be closed down on October 24, 1995. On Stephen King's official website, there was 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?". 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.Stephen King’s Zone Corp radio stations will cease broadcasting this month
Bangor Daily News, December 2, 2024 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 In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

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. Rock Lobster completed the acquisition in March 2025. WZLO and WZON, whose closures went forward, would be separately sold to Mix Maine Media in February 2025.

References

External links

Official website
* KIT Mass media in Penobscot County, Maine Classic rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Maine Brewer, Maine Stephen King {{Maine-radio-station-stub