FOX Sports is making sure that nine commercials set to air during its Thanksgiving Day NFL game from Ford Field in Detroit aren’t total turkeys.
That’s because it’s sliced down the air time of each of these spots to a swift 6 seconds.
At the discretion of the game producer, the ads will be seamlessly incorporated into natural breaks in the flow of the match between the host Lions and the visiting Minnesota Vikings. The spots will appear in a double-box format that allows viewers to follow all the action while the six-second ads run; this follows the double-box’s presence on FOX throughout its coverage of the 2016 World Series.
The use of the :06 spot is designed to “minimize viewer disruption and improve game flow.”
It’s also designed to keep viewers from changing the station.
The six-second ads will replace one standard commercial break, which typically runs for two minutes and 20 seconds, FOX said.
Following the game, the network and the NFL will evaluate the digital-first ad unit and “incorporate learnings into the NFL’s overall effort to improve the live game viewing experience for fans both in the stadium and at home.”
Joe Marchese, President of Advertising Revenue for Fox Networks Group, said, “FOX broke the mold as the first broadcast network to air six-second ads, and working alongside our partners at the NFL, and in an effort to help them continue to improve the game viewing experience, we are doing it again by maximizing the efficiency of brand messaging while delivering an even more immersive experience for fans.”
Marchese added that by experimenting with shorter ads, “we are demonstrating that even great traditions can be improved.”
