Personalities
Since October 30, 2006, mornings feature Mickey and Amelia with newsman Josh Spiegel. Baltimore morning radio presenters Kirk McEwen and Mark Ondayko left the company and started on WHFS 105.7 FM on February 1, 2007, taking over for the Sports Junkies.
Former Newsman R. Edward Lopez died of lung cancer on 22 May 2005 at the age of 52. Lopez held the national record for longest tenure for a news man at a rock station. Jon Lieberman had been filling in for him during his illness. KML, as the morning team was known, has released a number of parody CDs. They are known for their interest in and knowledge of the local area. They briefly called it the "98Rock Morning Show" out of respect for Lopez. On August 22, 2005, the 98Rock Morning Show became "98Rock Morning Radio" and was joined by Spiegel, a former news commentator for Big O and Dukes and a 20-year radio veteran. Also in 2005, the morning show first broke the story of the Mitch Hedberg death because he was about give a promo for an appearance at the Baltimore Improv.
Sarah Fleischer follows from 10-3 daily; her shift includes the classic request Hair Ball hour. She is the only personality who has worked at the station from its debut as 98Rock in 1977. Sarah can also be credited with being the first Official Disc Jockey on 98Rock, as it was her that hit the switch under the (then) new rock format to play the very first song "Baba O'Riley" by the British rock group The Who. She has also been featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"Stash" (Stephen G. Smith) was the afternoon show DJ for 24 years, though he worked just about every shift in his long tenure at 98 Rock. He detests motorcycle sidecars and is knowledgeable about the Eastern Shore of Maryland. On December 3, 2007, he fell down some stairs at his home, according to DCRTV.com. According to WIYY Program Director Dave Hill speaking to DCRTV.com, Ash suffered a fractured skull, which resulted in bleeding on the brain. On July 22, 2012, Ash was arrested for DUI following a three-car crash in Edgewood, MD. As of July 24, 2012, "Stash" no longer appears on the 98Rock website under "Jocks" (page is still accessible via direct link) and his 98Rock Twitter account is no longer accessible. On July 26, 2012, The Baltimore Sun announced that Stash and 98 Rock had severed ties. According to the article, Stash signed a gag order, but it's fair to assume that the termination came in light of this latest traffic incident.
For nearly a year there was no regular night show when Stash moved from nights to the afternoon slot formerly occupied by Mickey and Amelia. That changed when "Irresponsible Radio with Theo and Joe" debuted September 17, 2007. The show aired for only 10 months from 7PM-Midnight. It featured morning show regular and local comedian Joe Robinson and former 93.5 'The Rock' Champaign/Urbana, Illinois DJ, Theo. On July 29, 2008 Theo told fans "The powers that be have decided that it's not economically feasible to keep us together. I would like to say on a personal note that working with Joe has been the real highlight of my radio career." "We felt we wanted to rock out at night and not talk as much," WIYY Program Director David Hill told dcrtv.com.
Stash's producer, and Theo and Joe's for the first 7 months of the show, was Stephanie Drummond. She was also formerly with and both the KML and KMS morning shows. Stephanie went to work in television news at WBAL in mid April 2008.
WIYY currently broadcasts the Baltimore Ravens games. Stash co-hosts the "Ravens' Last Call" Sunday post-game show with Mike Flynn. Joe Robinson was the co-host during the inaugural 2007-2008 season.
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