WKST (1200 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in New Castle, Pennsylvania, serving Lawrence County.
It has a classic hits format and is owned by Seven Mountains Media of State College, Pennsylvania, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC, which also owns 34 other radio stations in Pennsylvania including WUZZ (AM) in New Castle and WYLE (FM) in Grove City.
But because AM 1200 is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A WOAI San Antonio, WKST must reduce its power at night to 1,000 watts and use a directional antenna.
In 1942, Alan Freed landed his first broadcasting job at WKST, before moving on to nearby WKBN Youngstown, Ohio, followed by WAKR Akron, and then WJW Cleveland — the station where Freed is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll" to describe the music genre.
In April 2004, Clear Channel announced the sale of WKST along with WBZY and WJST (FM) to Forever Broadcasting for $2.85 million.
[5] On October 16, 2023 WKST changed their format from talk to a simulcast of classic hits-formatted WHMJ 99.3 FM Franklin, branded as "WUZZ Radio".