[3] The station signed on in October 1948 as WNAC-FM[4][5] under the ownership of the Yankee Network division of General Tire and Rubber, which also owned WNAC (1260 AM) and WNAC-TV (channel 7, now occupied by WHDH).

[6][7] In May 1953, General Teleradio bought WLAW (680 AM) and WLAW-FM (93.7 FM) from Hildreth and Rogers, publishers of the Lawrence Daily Eagle and Evening Tribune, for $475,000.

[5] On October 12, 1966, WRKO-FM dropped its simulcast of WNAC (by then predominantly a talk station) and introduced a top 40 format reliant on automation.

[5][12] Playing the top hits of the day (including the number-one song in Boston every hour on the hour) and using recorded announcing altered to sound like a robot (since the station was positioned as "R-KO [pronounced "arko"], The Shy But Friendly Robot"), WRKO-FM quickly became the most popular FM radio station in the Boston area.

[5] WRKO-FM's top 40 programming came to an end in November 1968, when it joined sister stations KHJ-FM in Los Angeles and KFRC-FM in San Francisco in airing an automated soft rock format from Drake-Chenault Enterprises, "Hit Parade '68",[14] which incorporated both current music and oldies.

[14] WROR switched to another Drake-Chenault format, "Solid Gold Rock and Roll", on November 1, 1970, evenly splitting the oldies and current music.

[17] The BCMC and another Boston citizens-group opposed to the transaction subsequently filed challenges that led to a lengthy delay, resulting in RKO and Heftel mutually agreeing to terminate the sale.

[18] In early 1973, WROR went to a full-time oldies format (still playing a new song per hour and a couple recent hits an hour), eventually parting ways with Drake-Chenault later that year[19] and adopting the name "The Golden Great 98" (Drake-Chenault's services were later utilized by WCOP-FM, now WZLX, which competed with WROR in the oldies format from 1973 to 1974).

[5] However, in the wake of the loss of the license, the FCC announced in February 1983 that it would solicit competing applications for RKO's remaining stations, including WROR.

[39] On July 14, 2009, CBS Radio announced that it would change WBMX's format to sports radio, under the "98.5 The Sports Hub" branding, and change call letters to WBZ-FM;[40][41] this would be the third distinct usage of the WBZ calls on the FM dial in Boston, having previously been used on an experimental FM station from 1943 to 1954, and again on the current WMJX from 1957 to 1981.

With the sports format's launch, WBZ-FM became the flagship for the Boston Bruins Radio Network, taking those duties from WBZ;[43] in addition to becoming the flagship for the New England Patriots Radio Network, assuming those play-by-play rights from the former WBCN; WBCN's morning show, Toucher and Rich, was also moved over to WBZ-FM in the same time slot.

While CBS shareholders retained a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom was the surviving entity, separating both WBZ and WBZ-FM from WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV.

[50] On November 1, 2017, Beasley Media Group announced that it would trade WMJX to Entercom, in exchange for WBZ-FM (WBZ, WZLX, WRKO, and WKAF were acquired by iHeartMedia).

Local hosts including "Big" Jim Murray, Chris Gasper, Kendra Middleton, and Cerrone Battle are heard on weekends.