The station first aired in 1935 as CRBC station CRCW 600 AM, which broadcast until 1938. Between 1938 and 1950, CBC Radio programming was aired on private affiliate CKLW. A CBC-owned station was subsequently relaunched in 1950 using the CBEcall sign and 1550 frequency. Regional FM rebroadcasters were added in 1977. On May 9, 2008, the CRTC approved the station's application to launch a low-power nested FM rebroadcaster in Windsor, at 102.3 FM. Six months later, on November 13, 2008, the CBC applied to the CRTC to convert CBE from the AM band to the FM band at 97.5 FM, to revoke its previous request for CBE-1, and to include a new FM rebroadcaster in Leamington on 91.9 FM. The new 97.5 FM main signal would broadcast with a directional antenna to the southeast, to avoid interference with two other stations at 97.5, London's CIQM-FM and Lansing, Michigan's WJIM-FM. On June 16, 2009, CBE received approval for its conversion to 97.5 FM and for its Leamington repeater. Originally, no time frame was given for the AM to FM transition, though after the new FM signal would sign on, the AM signal was to go silent after three months of simulcasting, with the repeater signal at 102.3 to close within thirty days of the start-up of the 97.5 signal. That decision came following the CRTC approval for CJAM to relocate to 99.1 in March 2009. The 97.5 facilities began testing on December 1, 2010, the start of a 7-month testing stage that also included resolving issues between the new signal and second-adjacent stations in Detroit. The station officially launched on July 1, 2011 under the call sign of CBEW-FM. In accordance with the original transition plans, the CBC announced that CBE would close down on September 30, 2011. Sometime after midnight on October 1, 2011, without fanfare, CBE's 10,000-watt Class-A 1550 AM signal was either powered down or shutdown. According to Scott Fybush's Northeast Radio Watch, CBE 1550 AM's sign-off happened without fanfare; indeed, the scheduled midnight end to CBE was extended out for a bit as the station came back on and off the air several times before finally dropping audio at 12:25 a.m. October 1, leaving just a dead carrier on 1550 AM. In May 2012, the CBC filed a request with the CRTC to move Windsor's Première Chaîne station CBEF to CBE's former frequency and transmitter, owing to potential issues with the age of the facilities and rust found on its tower in August 2011. The move was approved by the CRTC on October 16, 2012. The move would bring programming back to 1550 for the first time since CBE's sign-off.
Local programming
CBEW produces the local morning programWindsor Morning, hosted by Tony Doucette. Prior to 2015, the station produced the local afternoon program The Bridge, hosted by Bob Steele. In 2015 that program was renamed Afternoon Drive, expanded its focus to cover much of the Southwestern Ontario region, and was added to the schedule of the network's London stationCBCL-FM; in 2017, the program's production was moved to London, concurrently with the launch of a new local morning program on that station. The program is now hosted by Chris dela Torre.
Rebroadcasters
Former repeater, now shut down: The 102.3 frequency is now used by CINA-FM, which signed on in September 2012.
