The darkest area has the strongest signal where the car radio would easily lock onto the station when scanning. On Oahu, the medium dark section represents a very listenable area. The lightest represents a signal with noticeable drop-outs, but which might be acceptable in a good spot with a stationary radio.
Joan Opitz of Haiku, Maui, wakes up every morning to Immaculate Heart Radio, KCIK-740 on the AM dial. Her radio alarm is set at 6 a.m. so she can make it to the 7 o’clock Mass at St. Rita Church.
Optiz is one of the growing number of Maui county residents discovering Hawaii’s only 24/7 Catholic radio station, which is based on the Valley Isle. But what few people know, according to Immaculate Heart Radio president Doug Sherman, is that the radio signal can be heard on other islands as well — Lanai, Molokai and parts of Oahu and the Big Island.
According to Sherman, most of the western coast of Hawaii Island can dial in clearly. On Oahu, eastern slivers of Honolulu and limited windward and central locations can catch the station with varying degrees of success. He’d like to spread the word about his station’s accessibility.
Immaculate Heart Radio fans like the variety of talk and prayer programs the station offers.
For Opitz, it’s much more than a morning wake-up call.
“My home and car radios are on 740,” she told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by email. “I particularly like the prayers.”
“If I’m at home at 12:30 p.m., I rest and pray the rosary,” she said.
“I particularly like Mother Angelica, The Son Rise Morning Show, the news and sermons or lectures,” Opitz said. “I do believe that listening to Immaculate Heart Radio has brought me closer to God and taught me a few things.”
Immaculate Heart Radio is part of a Mainland network of Catholic stations; all its programs come from Mainland sources.
Mass and the rosary are aired several times a day, Sherman said, including Sunday Mass. “In addition, our call-in and apologetics shows help the faithful of the Diocese of Honolulu communicate their beliefs, witness to their faith and translate the Gospel into their daily lives.”
Sherman said he would like to eventually develop local shows, “including a live Mass from a Maui parish each Sunday.”
That’s something diocesan hermit Sister Bernadette Meno, also a Maui resident, would look forward to.
“I can’t say I am one of those [listening to the station] right now because we don’t yet have local programming on it,” she said. “I know we are still new in airing it and I am looking forward to the time we have local programming.”
Meno said that, to her surprise, her young adult son listens to the station and “likes it.” She hinted that he would like it even more if it included some music.
Esther Yap, another parishioner of St. Rita Church, Haiku, also has her car radio set at AM-KCIK-740.
“I do like to listen to the daily Gospel, prayers and reflections,” she said.
“The call-in questions and answers is always interesting,” Yap said. “It reminds me we all have struggles in our journey of faith. I find myself praying for those who are calling in and sharing their stories.”
Like Meno, Yap hopes to hear local programs soon. “But for right now,” she said, “I do find all the local and global Catholic news in the Hawaii Catholic Herald that keeps our islands connected.”
Audie Pascual of Christ the King Parish in Kahului dials in occasionally.
“I do listen to it from time to time and I like it,” he said. “I enjoy listening to the news, discussions, and prayers.”
Pascual, however, said he has to turn elsewhere to quench his thirst for music. “I am an avid FM listener and I mostly listen to K-LOVE radio,” a Christian music station.
Immaculate Heart Radio fills a good part of each day for Gail Mitchell of St. Theresa Parish in Kihei — in her car, in her home, “even when I am in the pool doing water aerobics.”
“The programs have helped my faith as a disciple and follower of Jesus,” Mitchell said, “to grow with a depth, passion and intensity as never before.”
“I especially love being able to say the rosary while I am driving early in the morning on my way to daily Mass,” she said.
Mitchell, who said she supports the station financially and with prayers, included as her two favorite programs, “Right Here, Right Now” and “The Terry and Jesse Show.”
For Melissa Price of Holy Rosary Parish in Paia, KCIK-740 has come to dominate her radio dial.
“I used to listen to a lot of commercial radio before, but now I listen almost exclusively to Immaculate Heart Radio,” she said. “I love the catechism lessons as well as the current news from a Catholic perspective. Most of all, it is just encouraging to hear Catholic speakers who are really enlightened and enthusiastic about their faith.”
Immaculate Heart Radio was launched this year on Maui on Jan. 5, with a $75,000 grant from the Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation, which distributes funds from the diocese’ With Grateful Hearts capital campaign.
