SmackDown Will Start Showing Picture-in-Picture Commercials

Broadcasting & Cable has a story about NBCU planning on bringing back “picture-in-picture commercials” during WWE SmackDown (Raw isn’t mentioned). It’s expected to start later this month or early June.

So at a time when commercial avoidance is a big issue for ad-supported TV, NBCU is going to use a picture-in-picture approach during its WWE SmackDown series on USA Network.

When the commercial break starts, the sound will go down on the action, but viewers will still be able to see the “Superstars” bash each other with steel chairs and jump from the turnbuckles. Meanwhile, the ad message plays with sound and motion.

WWE SmackDown tested out this approach last year after the brand split and the article claims that it had good results:

Each episode had two commercial breaks using the picture-in-picture technique. During those breaks, ratings went up 13%, indicating that viewers stuck around instead of changing the channel, fast-forwarding or making a sandwich. The lift during those breaks raised the C3 ratings for the entire show by close to 2%. That’s good for NBCU.

The test had good results for advertisers as well. The spots in the picture-in-picture breaks scored 42% higher ad memorability than the cable norm, with brand memorability was up 100%.

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