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History of Immaculate Heart Radio

The history of Immaculate Heart Radio has been one of growth by Grace. Our network continues to grow quickly as the Holy Spirit opens more and more doors for us in our ministry.

In the beginning...

KIHM, named for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, began broadcasting in Reno on January 2, 1997. At that time, KIHM was only the seventh full time Catholic radio station in the country, as compared to over 1,600 Protestant stations and 15,000 secular stations. As of today, there are approximately 150 Catholic stations nationwide.

Network of Stations

Since the founding of KIHM the Immaculate Heart Radio network has grown to consist of 23 of the nation's 150 Catholic radio stations. In 1999, IHR started a second station, KSMH, named for the Sacrament Most Holy, the origin of the name of the city of Sacramento, in Sacramento, California. The exact location of the broadcasting tower was initially in Auburn, but it was moved to Sacramento resulting in important improvements in the quality of the reception as well as a significant increase in KSMH's potential audience.

Later in 1999, KWG was started in Stockton, California. This became our third station.

We soon added two other stations to our network:

• KJOP (Lemoore, CA - 2000)
• KHOT (Madera, CA - 2001)

With these additions, our broadcasts cover the greater Fresno market.

A third station, KWG, was started in Stockton, California, later in 1999. In August of 2000, a fourth station began broadcasting on KJOP in Lemoore, California. In December of 2001, KHOT in Madera, California, became our fifth station, KJOP and KHOT cover the southern and northern parts of the greater Fresno market on AM 1240 and AM 1250, respectively. In November of 2003, KMAP (later renamed KJPG) began broadcasting Catholic Radio in Bakersfield, CA and became the sixth station in the Immaculate Heart Radio Network.

With Immaculate Heart Radio expanding to the Bay Area, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona, our ministry doesn't show any signs of slowing.

Immaculate Heart Radio's administrative office is in Loomis, California. This office also serves as Immaculate Heart Radio's main studio where programming and production work is done for each of the stations.

Future Plans for Immaculate Heart Radio

Immaculate Heart Radio's stations are operated on very low budgets, and they are listener supported. We also receive donations from Catholics around the country. Local businesses sponsor an hour of programming in return for a sponsorship spot on the air.