WPLM signed on August 8, 1955, with WPLM-FM being added on June 25, 1961.[5] The two stations simulcast all programming from the FM station's launch[6] until October 1997, when the station began to carry the Eastern Massachusetts Financial News Network, based out of WADN (1120 AM, now WBNW), in morning drive.[7][8] In May 1999, WPLM's simulcast of WBNW was expanded to run from 6a.m. to 6p.m.[9] On January 15, 2015, WPLM returned to a full simulcast with WPLM-FM.
For much of its history, WPLM was branded as "The radio voice of America's Hometown, Cape Cod and the Islands."
WPLM went silent on June 7, 2018. It resumed operations on June 6, 2019.[10] The station again went off the air January 7, 2024, after part of its transmitter burned out.[11]