History Channel Plans Short Mini-Series Backed by Ancestry to Accompany ‘Lincoln’ Documentary
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhile A+E’s History Channel sets out to tell the story of Abraham Lincoln in a documentary over three nights it will also tell the stories of formerly enslaved people who were also an important part of that era in a mini-series backed by one of its advertisers.Ancestry is sponsoring a three-part miniseries that will accompany the Lincoln work, which debuts February 20, the latest in A+E’s efforts to craft bespoke programming segments that burnish ad messages while at the same time keeping viewers tuned to the programing for which they originally came.“To me, this is not a commercial break, this is not a ‘brought to you by,’” says David DeSocio, executive vice president of ad sales marketing and partnerships at A+E Networks, in a recent interview. “It’s a continuation of the story, but on a very personal level.” Each of the content segments accompanying the “Lincoln” project will be introduced by Christy Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation in Williamsburg, VA, and a contributor to the documentary.