WIYY (97.9 FM, "98 Rock") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. It is owned by Hearst Communications and broadcasts 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 the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

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 was compelle ...

. WIYY shares studios and offices with

sister stations In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WBAL and

WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole r ...

on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore. WIYY's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

utilizes WBAL-TV's 'candlestick' antenna on the shared Television Hill candelabra

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

. WIYY and WBAL are the flagship stations of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

radio network and the

Baltimore Orioles Radio Network The Baltimore Orioles Radio Network comprises 39 stations in five states and the District of Columbia. Beginning in 2022, the Orioles' flagship station is once again WBAL/1090 AM and is joined by sister station WIYY/97.9 FM; a game conflict with ...

. The two are the only radio stations owned by the Hearst Corporation.

History

In January 1948, WMAR-FM signed on for the first time at 97.9, owned by the A.S. Abell Company, publishers of the '' Baltimore Sun'' and founders of

WMAR-TV WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( ...

, Baltimore's first television station. WMAR-FM was a collaborative partner of Transit Rides Inc., developer of a music format designed for

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

and owned by the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

-based Taft family. While many Americans were buying TV sets, few owned FM radios. After two years on the air, Abell decided shut down WMAR-FM in June 1950 and turned in its license to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

. (The WMAR-FM call letters returned to Baltimore in 1968 when Abell bought the station on 106.5, now

WWMX WWMX (106.5 FM), known on-air as Mix 106.5, is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Clarkview Road off Jones Falls Exp ...

). The 97.9 frequency remained silent until December 1958 when WFDS-FM signed on for the first time, a classical music outlet under the ownership of William S. Cook, a Baltimore native and professional engineer. Cook created WFDS-FM as one of the first radio stations in the United States to experiment with stereo. The Hearst Corporation purchased the station in April 1960 and retained classical music while changing the call sign to WBAL-FM. In June 1975, WBAL-FM joined NBC Radio Network's 24-hour national "News and Information Service" (NIS) becoming an

all news radio All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

station on the FM dial, rare in that era. It was the largest market

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of NIS not to be an NBC Radio owned-and-operated station. After two years of all-news and low ratings, NBC closed down NIS in late May 1977. But WBAL-FM bailed on the service early. WBAL-FM switched its

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 assign ...

to WIYY and began its rock music format on ."For the Record: Call letters-Grants-Existing FMs."
''Broadcasting'', April 4, 1977, pg. 92. It has used the ''98 Rock'' branding since the flip. WIYY is a rare radio station that has kept the same format for multiple decades. In 2005, WBAL and WIYY were named the flagship stations of the Baltimore Ravens Radio Network. In 2022, WBAL and WIYY became the official broadcaster of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. The Hearst stations took over that designation from the Orioles' previous flagship,

WJZ-FM WJZ-FM (105.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio for ...

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the Radio & Records magazine '' Active Rock Station of the Year Award'' for the top 25 markets. Other nominees included

WAAF WAAF may refer to: * w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner * Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II ** Waaf, a member of the service * WAAF (AM ...

in Boston,

KBPI KBPI (107.9 FM, "KBPI") is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Collins, Colorado. It is owned by iHeartMedia and it broadcasts an Active rock radio format. KBPI's studios are located in Denver in the Tech Center. In December 2017, iHe ...

in Denver,

WRIF WRIF (101.1 FM) is a commercial active rock radio station licensed in Detroit, Michigan and serving Metro Detroit as well as bordering city Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The station is currently owned by Beasley Media Group. WRIF is a grandfathered ...

in Detroit,

WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...

in Philadelphia, and

KISW KISW (99.9 FM) – branded 99.9 KISW, The Rock of Seattle – is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the Seattle metropolitan area; live shows include ''The Me ...

in Seattle. WIYY was a nominee for the 2012 "Major Market Radio Station of the Year" RadioContraband Rock Radio Award.

References

External links

* * *
The Rough House Wrestling Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiyy Active rock radio stations in the United States IYY Woodberry, Baltimore Hearst Communications assets Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Maryland