Stephen King, the horror author whose books have sold hundreds of millions of copies, inspired classic films and disturbed untold nights of sleep, has long played another role closer to his home in Maine: local media magnate.

Stephen King’s rock ‘n’ roll radio station is going silent at year's end. King, a 77-year-old rocker who used to perform with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band that featured literary icons, said Monday that it’s time to say farewell to his rock station and two others that have been bleeding money.

The three stations, headquartered in Bangor and airing classic rock and adult alternative music, are expected to cease broadcasting on Dec. 31. According to a press release by the stations' parent company,