O2 and ITN Productions to capture England Rugby fan reactions in first live TV advert to be powered by 5G

O2 and ITN Productions will create the world’s first live TV advert, powered by 5G, and aired live on ITV during the England match this Saturday. The advert will preview some of O2’s 5G capabilities ahead of the official launch later in October.

Footage of the matchday atmosphere will be captured across the UK and sent back to ITN studios in London via O2’s next generation 5G network. From there, it will be broadcast as a live advert on ITV, showcasing the real time support of fans up and down the country.

Nina Bibby, CMO at O2, said: “The match will not only be an important fixture for England Rugby, it will also mark a huge milestone in demonstrating the possibilities that 5G can unlock for sports fans. Using next-generation technology, we will unite rugby fans across the country in real-time, inspiring the nation to come together in support of the team.”

Anna Mallett, CEO at ITN, added: “5G will revolutionise content creation on a global scale and enable us at ITN to react even faster to moments that affect our lives – and at the same time see us reduce our carbon footprint. We’re thrilled to bring this event to life and work with O2 on such a ground-breaking innovation.”

Kelly Williams, Managing Director, Commercial, ITV, said: “The power of live TV to bring people together is unparallelled in the advertising industry and we are really excited about this O2 5G live ad, which amplifies both the incredible emotion that a major live event on ITV can generate and the new technology opportunities around TV advertising.”

The advert will collate footage of fans during the match from four different locations across the country using 5G ‘bonded’* cameras. To transfer such a high volume of data in broadcast quality, ITN will rely on 5G’s capability to provide high-speed, high quality, always-on connectivity.

The live TV advertising partnership with ITV comes ahead of O2’s 5G network switch-on in October across key areas of Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Slough and Leeds. O2’s 5G rollout will be targeted where customers need it most, including at major entertainment and sports venues such as The O2 and Twickenham Stadium.

• each camera will have a bonded cellular pack attached to it which ensures the feed doesn’t drop. This will ‘talk’ to the 5G modem at each venue which will send the footage back to ITN HQ for them to edit and play out.