After nearly 80 years as a commercial-free broadcaster, Vatican Radio, run by the Holy See in Rome, is starting to run ads.
Italian power company Enel is the inaugural sponsor, with 45-second ads running about four or five times a day.
The radio service broadcasts around the world and on the Web in more than 40 languages.
Cost for Vatican Radio? A reported $31 million a year.
Revenue, until now, a big zero.
You do the math.
From The Los Angeles Times:
"It's like having an 80-year-old child living at home all this time, and you say, 'Darling, we still love you, you can go on living here, we're not going to kick you out, but it would be nice if you would contribute to paying the phone bill, the gas bill or something,' " said Sean-Patrick Lovett, director of Vatican Radio's English and Italian sections.
Finding advertisers that would not offend listeners, and presenting them in a way not to send a mixed message of Papal endorsement is a tricky proposition.
A Vatican Radio spokesman says all advertisers and their messages are to undergo a thorough inquisition before receiving dispensation.
