In June 2006, UMass Dartmouth sold the 91.1 frequency to the Educational Media Foundation, which relaunched it as WTKL; the programming that had been on WSMU-FM then moved to the new WUMD on 89.3.

On January 4, 2017, it was announced that UMass Dartmouth was selling WUMD to Rhode Island Public Radio for $1.5 million and $617,100 worth of underwriting for 10 years.

[6] Rhode Island Public Radio began broadcasting its NPR news/talk format on July 12, 2017, and the callsign changed to WXNI.

An FCC construction permit was sought and obtained to move 89.3 to the former tower of local ABC affiliate WLNE-TV in Tiverton, greatly increasing the area covered by the signal.

However, it now broadcast from the tallest active FM tower in Rhode Island, at 833 feet (254 m); only WLVO's auxiliary site in Johnston is taller.

As a result, it now provided at least secondary coverage to almost all of Rhode Island, and also brought a city-grade NPR signal to New Bedford and most of the South Coast for the first time ever.