The Times buys entire advertising break during Channel 4’s Homeland

The Times has paid for entire advert break during Channel 4’s war on terror drama Homeland to run a short film about the kidnapping and escape of two of its journalists in Syria.

The three-minute video, Bearing Witness, which is part of the paper’s Unquiet Film online series, is being broadcast on Sunday night as part of a wider advertising campaign that aims to get viewers to buy a Times Membership subscription.

Bearing Witness tells the story of how Times journalists Anthony Loyd and Jack Hill were kidnapped, beaten and shot at by a Syrian rebel gang, before escaping in May. It features interviews with Loyd and Hill, speaking about their experience in Syria.

The Times is using the film as a lead-in to a second, more traditional, TV ad that aims to encourage viewers to buy a Times subscription package.

In addition to the Homeland slot, an interactive TV ad will run on Channel 4’s video-on-demand service 4oD to allow users to interact with the ad to see the benefits of a Times membership.

“Bearing Witness tells a powerful story full of insight into the dangers journalists face in their endeavours to report the truth from hostile environments around the world,” said Nick Stringer, chief creative officer at Times publisher News UK. “It reveals a sense of purpose that the Times has pursued since the Crimean war. Broadcasting this short film on Channel 4 in the Homeland slot is the perfect alignment, brand fit and reach of our target audience.”

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