TV show exspense ”wise investment”

Andrew Mathieson
Ratepayers will fork out tens of thousands of dollars to bring Channel Nine’s Today show to Geelong for a week.
Mayor Bruce Harwood has labelled the cost a worthwhile investment.
City Hall has the support of lobby group Committee for Geelong and several industry stakeholders in finalising an agreement with the national television program.
The cost remains subject to commercial confidence but a City Hall spokesperson said it would be less than $100,000.
The spokesperson said the City had also paid Pace Advertising an undisclosed amount to secure sponsorship from the business community and for technical advice on television production costs.
Mayor Bruce Harwood said the expense was worth the “outstanding exposure” of broadcasting the region to the nation on five daily shows.
“In return, the Geelong region will get many times this value in national marketing exposure,” Cr Harwood said.
“If we were to buy the same amount of air time (15 hours) through advertising, the most conservative estimate of the cost equates to around $1.3 million.”
Cr Harwood was responding to an incorrect media report this week that the deal to lure the Channel Nine program would cost $300,000.
He pointed out that rival program Sunrise had already broadcast its weather segments from the city’s racecourse before the Geelong Cup in October.
“The Geelong community has long bemoaned the fact that, unlike other regional centres, we don’t have a television station devoted to our region,” Cr Harwood said.
“For a week in spring, however, we have an unprecedented opportunity to right this imbalance.”
Cr Harwood said Today’s weekly audience of more than one million viewers would build on Geelong’s tourism sector, which contributed about $478 million to the economy annually.
“When opportunities like these arise, the City needs to take a leadership role to ensure the idea progresses to become a reality,” he said.
Earlier this year council committed ratepayers to paying almost $30,000 for luxury cruise liner Statendam to dock at Geelong’s Cunningham Pier.
However, the ship failed to reach Geelong after rough weat-her ruled out docking at the pier.
The City had estimated the 1200 passengers would have returned up to $350,000 in economic and tourism benefits.