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 radio ...
in
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
Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televi ...
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 broadcasting, ...
. WIYY shares
studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
s 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 (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
utilizes WBAL-TV's 'candlestick' antenna on the shared Television Hill candelabra
tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
.
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 its ...
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
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'' and founders of
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road (Maryland Route 45) in Towson (though with ...
, 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 jurisdiction ...
. (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
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
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
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
. 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
The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...
'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
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
. 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 assigne ...
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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
. 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
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
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
The year 1985 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Youth Year (IYY). It was held to focus attention on issues of concern to and relating to youth. The proclamation was signed on January 1, 1985, by United Nations Secretary Gen ...
Woodberry, Baltimore
Hearst Communications assets
Radio stations established in 1958
1958 establishments in Maryland