The station was assigned the call letters WVNL on August 9, 1991. On November 1, 1991, the station changed its call sign to the current WBMW; under this call sign, it signed on December 24, 1992.
A totally unrelated station which now has the call sign WLKK used to have this call sign from 1988 to 1991, and had a smooth jazz format.
WBMW moved its city of license from Ledyard, Connecticut to Pawcatuck on August 22, 2013.