Channel 5 partnership ‘will help Countyside Live spread message’
Agricultural Society says link-up not about money
new partnership with a television channel is not about making money but is aimed at seizing a golden opportunity to promote understanding of farming and the countryside to a far wider audience, the chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society has said. Nigel Pulling told
that the new link-up with Channel 5 to host
at the Society’s Harrogate showground was about a coming-together of two entities with well-matched values.
The society confirmed at the start of the week that the co-stars of the channel’s hit series, Thirskbased veterinarians Peter Wright and columnist Julian Norton, will be the headline attractions in what constitutes a high-profile rebrand of its annual autumn showcase event.
returns on October 21-22 for what will be the 15th year of an event considered to be the little sister of the Great Yorkshire Show.
Mr Pulling said the partnership with isa good fit and that the proceeds generated from the event to further the society’s charitable activities would not be affected.
“What they stand for is a very good match for what we do. It’s a very Yorkshire link and we are promoting very similar ideals.
“Our objective is to promote farming and the countryside and if we can work with
to increase the exposure, it’s all good.
“Channel 5 is obviously a commercial entity but we have twin aims and we shouldn’t be worse off, but we aren’t doing this to make money. We are doing it to get our message across to a wider audience.” Mr Pulling said no element of
that had made it so popular had been “sacrificed” to accommodate Channel 5.
“The content of this show will have all the
elements we have built up over the last 14 years but this gives us wider exposure, particularly on the television, so we expect more people to turn up.
“The attendance had plateaued at around 12,000 so we are hoping this will increase that and we get the message out to a wider audience.
“We are certainly expecting a lot more people. They have a very strong fanbase so people will travel to be here. We can accommodate 50,000 people here on any given day of the Great Yorkshire Show. That’s the beauty of year’s it; we have the car parking and all the facilities, so we have the opportunity for the two to fit together pretty well.”
Explaining how the partnership with Channel 5 came about, Mr Pulling said: “The whole thing came about as a bit of a fluke. I happened to meet Paul Stead
co-executive producer) and the vets were looking to build on the success of the TV show. At the same time, we were looking to build on the success of
“We had Julian and Peter at the Great Yorkshire Show and they were really popular and that gave us added momentum.”