FilmFour To Be Free-To-Air From 23 July

FilmFour will become free-to-air on 23 July, supported by Channel 4’s biggest marketing campaign ever, with ads directed by actor Kevin Spacey breaking on 1 July.

4creative in conjunction with RSA Films have created the campaign, which features stars such as Dame Judy Dench, Ewan McGregor and Christian Slater in the television ads.

There will be one week of “subliminal blip-verts” before the full TV ads are shown. There are five separate versions of the ads showing the stars in comic scenarios. In one, Dench and McGregor are dressed as a lobster and a tomato respectively, standing outside London’s National Gallery with “FilmFour Is Now Free” banners and leaflets.

Poster, radio, cinema and online activity will support the TV ads. The channel will carry ad breaks for the first time and Channel 4 predicts FilmFour will be available to 18 million homes by the end of the year with its arrival on Freeview.

Channel 4 is also launching a FilmFour branded video-on-demand subscription service, which will be available on broadband, mobile and cable.

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com