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, Baltimore's first television station. 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. 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 callsign WMAR-FM returned to Baltimore in 1968 when Abell bought the station on 106.5, now
WWMX). 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 station on the FM dial, rare in that era. It was the largest market
network affiliate 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 to WIYY and began its rock music format on March 28, 1977. 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 Hearst stations took over that designation from the Orioles' previous flagship,
WJZ-FM. ==Awards==