A local rock radio station with a 40-year history went silent last night without giving any warning to its listeners.

QWK Rock, WQWK-FM 103.1, transformed into WRSC 1390 on Sunday night at 12:06 a.m. The station's last song was "Not Going Away" by Ozzy Osbourne. Immediately after the song ended, talk radio began playing.

Around midnight Monday, QWK Rock's Web site was replaced by a modified version of its former logo and the words, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" underneath the symbol. Later that morning, the station began broadcasting music online.

"I have to look to the future, and, as sad as it is, QWK Rock isn't it," said Troy Craig, QWK Rock's former program director and co-host of its morning show.

Staff at Forever Broadcasting, which owns QWK Rock and WRSC, were not available for comment and did not return phone calls. A secretary said Monday morning she had taken more than 50 calls from listeners and read them a prepared statement.

Although Forever Broadcasting

did not make an official statement, Craig speculated that the change may be for financial reasons.

"It's not a new thing. Rock radio can be tough to sell," he said. "It is not geared to appear to a well-to-do business owner. It is designed to appeal to blue-collar workers."

The station did not have a problem getting good ratings but had a harder time selling advertisements than other broadcasters, Craig said.

QWK Rock had been the No. 1 radio station in listenership ratings in and around the State College area, Craig said.

Once Forever Broadcasting stopped subscribing to the Arbitron ratings, which provided the station with a listenership total, it became harder to size up their audience

and sell advertising, he said.

QWK Rock is currently broadcasting online at its Web site, www.qwkrock.com.

Future plans, according to prepared statements from Forever Broadcasting, include replacing QWK Rock with 1390 WRSC's traditional talk radio.

A liberal talk radio will take over at 1390 AM.

Michael Stapleford, the owner and president of Magnum Broadcasting, a company that owns stations in the State College area, said QWK Rock is leaving a void in the market that hopefully will be taken advantage of by another radio station.

"I certainly do hate to see the market going without somewhat servicing the rock market audience," Stapleford said

QWK Rock has a strong history in State College. At one point, it had one of the largest listening areas in the state, stretching from State College to Pittsburgh, Lock Haven and down to the Maryland border during the mid- to late- 1990s, former station manager Bob Martin said.

"It was literally one of the first rock stations in the country," said Martin, now the assistant dean for internships and career placement.

And listeners say it will be missed.

"It was the soundtrack for much of my life," Craig said. "The one thing you can't buy, no matter how much money you have, is 40 years of heritage."