Sneaky commercials.

TV networks are getting sneakier about commercials. If you're not a sports fan, and you have a DVR, you probably never even see a commercial unless you want to check one out on YouTube. If you're a sports fan who watches events live, you still put up with them from time to time.

I watch some auto races delayed because Formula 1 is always at 1 p.m. local time, but that is not convenient for me when they're in China or Malaysia. So I skip those commercials quite handily. But I won't watch a football or baseball game delayed unless I'm forced to. It's too hard to avoid scores if you try to do that.

There has been only one exception that gets me to watch commercials (okay three, if you count new Mac/PC ads and Victoria Secret), and I wish the networks would take a look at this: For Indy Car races, ABC/ESPN uses something they call "Side by Side." The race gets a small window on the screen, and the commercial is right alongside in a slightly larger window. I want to see what's going on in the race all the time, so I find myself not fast-forwarding through these commercials.

This would work great for ongoing events like Kickball and sports that aren't designed for television like Baseball and Football. Hockey could be streamlined by this approach too. All I know is that it's the only thing that made me say, "Hey wait! Maybe I want to keep watching this, ads and all."