WIYY - History

History

The 97.9 frequency in Baltimore began in 1948 as WMAR-FM, 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 those call letters (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 radio station in June 1950 and turned in its license to the Federal Communications Commission.

The station remained silent until 1958 when it was reborn as WFDS-FM, 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 renaming it WBAL-FM.

In June 1975 WBAL-FM joined NBC Radio Network's ill-fated 24 hour national "News and Information Service" (NIS), and was the largest 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, adopting its present elements—the call letters WIYY, rock music format and the "98 Rock" brand—on March 28, 1977.