City | Baltimore, Maryland |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Baltimore Metropolitan Area |
Branding | Analog/HD1: "98 Rock" HD2: "NewsRadio 1090 WBAL" |
Slogan | Baltimore's Rock Radio |
Frequency | 97.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
First air date | December 7, 1958 |
Format |
Analog/HD1: Mainstream Rock HD2: News/Talk (WBAL simulcast) |
ERP | 13,500 watts (analog) 270 watts (digital) |
HAAT | 288 meters (945 ft) |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 65693 |
Former callsigns | WFDS-FM (1958–1960) WBAL-FM (1960–1977) |
Owner | Hearst Corporation |
Sister stations | WBAL, WBAL-TV |
Webcast |
98 Rock Webstream WBAL Webstream (HD2) |
Website |
www www |
WIYY (97.9 FM, "98 Rock") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Baltimore, Maryland. The station is owned by the Hearst Corporation and broadcasts a mainstream rock format. WIYY shares a studio/office facility with sister stations WBAL (1090 AM) and WBAL-TV (channel 11) on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, near the transmission tower it shares with WBAL-TV. WIYY and WBAL are the only two radio stations owned by the Hearst Corporation.
WIYY uses HD Radio, and simulcasts the News/Talk programming of sister station WBAL on its HD2 subchannel.
WIYY (along with WBAL) is the co-flagship station of the Baltimore Ravens and during the NFL Season the station broadcasts every Ravens game. Joe Robinson hosts the "Ravens' Last Call" Sunday post-game show. The station's website offers podcasts of portions of its talk shows as well as their weekly special interest shows: Spiegel's News Countdown, The Rough House Podcast, Dork Dynasty, and Geekin' Madness.
In January 1948, WMAR-FM signed on for the first time, owned by the A.S. Abell Company, publishers of the Baltimore Sun and founders of WMAR-TV, Baltimore's first television station. The first station to use that call sign (and not related to the second WMAR-FM at 106.5, now WWMX), WMAR-FM was a collaborative partner of Transit Rides Inc., developer of a music format designed for public transportation and owned by the Cincinnati-based Taft family. After two years on the air, Abell shut down the station in June 1950 and turned in its license to the Federal Communications Commission.