• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 11, 2013

TV producers have tried experimenting with all sorts of tricks down through the years to keep viewers watching during TV commercials breaks -- even before the DVR age.

Some networks, for example, have tried to do more "organic" commercial breaks, where TV talent or scenes similar to a show's content have aired. Other efforts  start a commercial while "in" the content of a TV show.

Now Fox is offering up a more obvious effort: the split screen. When going into a commercial break for upcoming "American Idol" episodes, a dual screen -- essentially two screen boxes -- will appear. One box will show "live"  behind-the-scenes action of "Idol" in one screen, while a regular commercial also plays at the same time in another screen. Three of "Idol"s big sponsors will participate: Coca-Cola, Ford Motor, and AT&T.

This isn't new. Many sports programmers have used this idea before to show continuous action in soccer or other sports.

Years ago you might have heard TV marketing executives grumble that this is "disruptive" and doesn't keep viewers’ total interest. But with growing time-shifting, multitasking, and second-screen activity, what was once considered a "lesser" value may be today's opportunity.

Unscripted reality content would seem to work well with dual-screen commercial breaks, since TV producers can roughly cut in and out of any action without worries about neat beginnings and endings.

One wonders if scripted shows -- hour-long dramas and half-hour sitcoms -- couldn't also benefit. Perhaps outtakes or other content could be placed in split screens

TV marketers should welcome these changes, although it’s one half of the screen than they’re used to.Still, isn't that better than no screen at all?