MD Rock Radio Station To Stop Broadcasting This Weekend After Sale: Reports

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Multiple reports said WRNR, a Maryland rock radio station, will stop broadcasting this weekend.

News emerged in November 2022 that 103.1 FM was sold to a Christian broadcasting company called Peter & John Radio Fellowship.

RadioInsight reported last fall that the sale was for $1.54 million, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

Eye On Annapolis reported this week that WRNR would stop broadcasting Friday at midnight. The Capital said the rock music would stop Saturday at midnight.

Patch contacted WRNR Owner and General Manager Steve Kingston to try to confirm the reports and nail down the exact shut-off date. We have not yet gotten a response. We will update this story if we hear back.

We also reached out to Peter & John Radio Fellowship to learn what they will broadcast on 103.1 FM. They have not responded either, so their programming plans remain unclear.

Related: WRNR Radio Station Sold To Christian Broadcasting Company, Report Says

Peter & John Radio Fellowship, also known as Peter & John Ministries, runs Brighter Media Group.

Brighter Media Group operates two Christian radio stations in Maryland. Those stations are 1230 AM WRBS and Bright-FM, which airs on 95.1 FM.

The main studio for Brighter Media Group is in Halethorpe, and its radio transmitter is in Manchester.

WRNR's studio is located in Annapolis at 179 Admiral Cochrane Drive. Its transmitter is in Grasonville.

RadioInsight reported that WRNR's studio equipment, vehicles and a few leases are not included in the sale.

The Capital said the deal let Kingston retain ownership of the WRNR call letters and its intellectual property rights. The newspaper added that the FCC has not yet approved Kingston's application to separate the WRNR call letters from the 103.1 FM frequency, however.

"We are considering options for WRNR FM, including a move of the call letters, music format, and all intellectual property to another frequency on FM," Kinston said at the time of the sale, according to Eye On Annapolis.

The Capital reported that WRNR was founded in the early 1980s under the call letters WAQA. Kingston bought the station for $2.4 million in 1998, the newspaper said.

WRNR's coverage area includes Baltimore City, the District of Columbia and these counties: Anne Arundel, Queen Anne's, Baltimore, Harford, Talbot, Kent, Prince George's, Calvert, Howard and Montgomery.

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