Nations Championship: ITV pauses scrum adverts during July Tests

In-play, in-picture adverts will not be part of ITV’s coverage of the Nations Championship in July, but the 20-second slots, shown before a scrum, are set to return for the November Tests and next year’s Six Nations.

The abundance of opportunities elsewhere on ITV’s schedule in July, with an expanded 48-team football World Cup dominating the airwaves, means advertisers’ spending has been directed elsewhere.

During their debut at this year’s Six Nations, the scrum slots, one of which was available per half, were bought up by blue-chip companies such as Samsung and Virgin Atlantic.

During the segments, audio from the stadium dipped, the screen was split in half and an advert was played in the right-hand part of the screen. Some viewers criticised the concept as intrusive.

Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison said the adverts may be “a little bit uncomfortable” for viewers in the UK who, unlike those in the US and Australia, are only used to adverts appearing around, rather than during, play.

The Nations Championship pits the northern hemisphere teams who compete in the Six Nations – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy – against southern hemisphere sides South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, plus invited sides Fiji and Japan.

It starts on Saturday with six games, with a further six on 11 July and 18 July before concluding in November.