Japeegee, thats a very well put together post. You have covered most things and given good reasoning behind it.
I would love to create a show in my own back yard. I am sure most of us would, but finically its where it kinda falls over. You cant have a camera crew waiting around for the weather, you set dates months out, when that time comes to shoot the show, regardless of how cruddy the weather gods treat you, there is no stopping, the show must roll on.
With this in the back of your mind, you need to shoot in places where you know the weather is most likely going to be on your side. If the weather is not playing ball, within a reasonable location, you need to have a plan B, and so on. Very few locations around the country can give you that sort of coverage apart from the top half of the north island, and in particular the east coast.
Places like Wairarapa, Taranaki ect... Would be fantastic to shoot, but it comes at a large cost...... More time, and we all know what that equals.
I would love to show slide baiting in some prime locations around here, that to me is the biggest thrill you can have on a surf rod, but again, its not a high enough success rate to bank on a show in that time frame. I couldn't agree more about more tips, tactics, secrets ect..... I too would like to see more of that kind of stuff, but to be honest, im not sure the bulk of the viewers ( once a year fisherman ) find that to interesting. But it would be great to see more of it.
On a positive though, land based fishing is featuring more and more, so thats great.