Commentary

History Channel Gets A Youthful Sheen

Late last year, when the History Channel started touting its mini-series, “Sons of Liberty,” all over the place, from subways to movie theaters to Facebook, I thought, “What a perfect branding vehicle” for the network. 

Such mega-hit miniseries as “The Bible” and “Hatfields & McCoys,” as well as “The Vikings” (season 3 begins in March), had been wildly successful in transforming History. Once a place for 50-plus male couch potatoes dozing to documentaries about the fall of the Third Reich, the network had made a successful foray into scripted programming, filled with CGI battles and ripped historical icons. 

Now with “Sons of Liberty,” featuring a pack of such buff colonial action heroes as John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, a multi-platform push for the three-part series was one more savvy way to say a final goodbye to the network's lingering image as the “Hitler Channel.”

advertisement

advertisement

How clever to play off the popularity of that joyful, nihilistic biker hit “Sons of Anarchy,” I thought, when I saw “Sons of Liberty” blazoned on subway station billboards reminiscent of those other “Sons,” just as those FX's Harley gangsters were taking their final series ride. 

(Ironically, the biker “Sons” was itself a play on the historical Sons of Liberty, a loosely organized group of patriots fighting British rule back in the Colonial day).

In the way History promoted “Sons of Liberty,” it was using the series as much as a marketing device for the network as it was to draw viewers. History put a 360-degree push behind the miniseries. It was promoted across all the A&E networks, including Lifetime. Over the holidays, promos for the series were pushed over airport wi-fi. Partnering with the Gen X-oriented online retailer Jackthreads, History did a giveaway of “Sons of Liberty” T-shirts. One more “homage” to those FX “Sons.”

The crowning branding move was a marketing partnership with the Samuel Adams Brewing Company. History teamed up with the brewer for a couple of spot-on spots, including one where a new worker is hired by Sam Adams, only to be outed as a “Redcoat.” Of course, this sparked a “revolution” among his co-workers. 

In its buildup, History used History.com extensively, peppering it with material related to the miniseries and the Revolutionary War. The multi-platform campaign included content featuring actors and the show’s creators retelling stories from the American Revolution. There was even a quiz, à la BuzzFeed, where you could determine which Son of Liberty you would have been. 

“Sons of Liberty” received solid if not stellar reviews. Critics noticed its polish and good-looking cast. There was some sniping on social media that the miniseries took too much liberty with its depiction of America's founding fathers and the women who loved them. Sam Adams of the miniseries, as some critics noted, was much better looking than the one on the beer label. 

 Mostly positive reviews and a big multi-platform push were not enough to turn “Sons of Liberty” into the kind of platinum hit History delivered with “The Bible”’s audience of 13 million or “Hatfields & McCoys”’s record-setting nearly 14 million. 

The 3.3 million “Sons of Liberty” was solid for a cable original, but pales in comparison to those two blockbusters. Still, its value to the network has to take into account the youthful sheen it gives to a brand called History that wants to chronicle the past that grabs an FX crowd.

Next story loading loading..