FOR THE first time in its nearly 80-year history, Vatican Radio is opening up to advertising in the hopes of easing the strain on its budget, the Vatican’s spokesman has said.
Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi said that the use of satellites and the internet would allow the radio to overcome obstacles that had previously made advertising impossible. The question of advertising has been raised many times over the years in relation to the “significant expenses” of the radio’s budget, but had been rejected “for practical reasons, not because we think advertising is bad”, Fr Lombardi said.
But the use of satellites and the internet has changed the landscape of radio transmission.