Picture In Picture To Be Used For SmackDown Live During Commercials

[Jack-Hammer]

I read an article at wrestlinginc.com stating that NBCUniversal will be implementing the use of picture in picture technology during commercials for SmackDown Live when the show's broadcast on USA. I recall seeing this a couple of times in the past, literally maybe 2 or 3 at the very most, and when the show goes to commercial, the sound on the in-ring action goes down but viewers are still able to see what's happening while the commercial plays with sound and motion. It'll be a regular feature going forward that's supposed to start late this month or in early June.

It seems that NBCU is doing this primarily for the 2018 Winter Olympics, especially during prime time as some Olympic sports have shown to be big draws and apparently the testing when it was dome for the blue brand was successful as ratings during the commercials went up 13% and the testing had good results for advertisers as well.

I'm looking forward to this because I know I'm not the only one who sometimes gets frustrated when they've had to go to commercial in the middle of a good match, particularly if the match is a longer one and they've had to cut to commercial more than once. If it tests well for SmackDown Live, I expect it'll be implemented for Raw somewhere down the line.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

You need that in America with how frequent your ad breaks are.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Yeah, ad breaks take me out of a match. I've seen lots of excellent TV matches but none of them rank above my favorites because they're incomplete to me.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Everyone hates commercials, but will this really help anything?

You only get half the screen and no audio, so this won't change anything for me.

I think it's a great idea and could prove me wrong, but I really don't see the point honestly.

 

[strangephish]

I miss the days of using the WWE App to watch on second screen during commercials, but I can understand why they got rid of that as I wouldn't pay attention to the commercials and be looking at my phone

 

[SportsNation2K7]

I'd actually be down for this. If they can copy the same screen size the same way that FOX does their commercials with NASCAR races then it might end up being a good thing. If you want a visual on what I'm talking about I just click the link below.

https://mysecretiveblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/2012-03-18_12-55-29_295.jpg

 

[LoudClearVoice]

For me, the commercials in the middle of a match, kill a good match. No matter how good the match is, it loses a certain level of realism (as much as there can be in professional wrestling) and it also ruins the flow of a good match. This is great news if they can pull this off

 

[ShinChan]

Good decision.

I remember seeing something similar when the brand split had just started. It serves the purpose of both sides. WWE can have advertising and fans don't have to watch advertisements and ruin their watching experience. Good call.