Ad mixup turns off city
Continued PBS sponsorship dies after commercials fail to air
Staff writer
An attempt by KPTS-TV to persuade Marion to sponsor the station for a second year was rebuffed Monday after council members learned that a city commercial, promised to be shown 36 times, never aired.
Economic development director Randy Collett said early versions of the 30-second Marion advertisement didn’t pass muster, so the PBS station produced different versions. The first couple of times the station filmed spots for Marion, videographers went to the reservoir and filmed cars driving over the dam.
“The difficult thing was getting them here to shoot meaningful footage,” Collett said.
Still, the station wants another pledge from the city.
“They’ve circled back to us and are asking us to renew it,” Collett said. “One option is to renew the KPTS contract and they will show it the 36 times they owe us from last year and 36 times for this year,” Collett said.
Council member Chris Costello was not impressed.
Costello asked whether missed airings were common with other communities. Collett said he did not know.
Collett recommended the city renew sponsorship for $920, but mayor Todd Heitschmidt’s motion to approve died for lack of a second.
Costello said if KPTS would show the 36 spots first, he would consider sponsoring the station again.
The original contract did not specify when during the day or night the commercials would run.
In other business, council members:
- Approved a contract with Mike Beneke to mow and fertilize the city’s flood control dike. Baled hay and cost of fertilizer will be split with two-thirds going to Beneke and one-third going to the city.
- Approved payment of $50,000 for use of the USD 408 pool.
- Approved a resolution setting a July 30 hearing date to determine whether property at 305 S. Lincoln St. is unsafe or uninhabitable.