Channel Nine is testing investor support again for its long-running TV show McLeod’s Daughters with a tax-effective product intended to fund the sixth series.

The investment is for a fixed eight-year period and carries a fee equivalent to 22 basis points of the investment. Channel Nine is also offering a 5 per cent brokerage commission to third party distributors such as financial planners, according to David Butterfield of Butterfield Financial Services. Butterfield is acting as a consultant to Channel Nine on the offer. The brokerage fee is not funded through the investment. Investors, with a minimum amount of $50,000, will be guaranteed a 106 per cent return through licence fees and distribution guarantees. Under the arrangement Channel Nine will enter into an agreement with investors for the free-to air television rights in Australia and New Zealand, for $324,000 per episode for a period of eight years. Investors are also entitled to any additional licence fees for any international distribution. The investment has received a product ruling from the ATO and investors are eligible for 50 per tax deductions for the next two financial years. According to Brent Cubis, Channel Nine chief financial officer, the company is looking to raise $12.5 million by the end of this financial year. “It frees up some of our capital,” he said. Cubis compared the investment to an agribusiness scheme but said it was definitely not risky. A similar scheme was offered last year but did not raise as much as expected and was open to investors for a much shorter period of time.