By Melissa A. Popp

Nowadays, split screen televisions are the norm. Most new television, flat screen and otherwise will come with split screen technology that enables the viewer to watch two programs simultaneous, choosing which one will produce sound and which one you watch in silence. This way if the big game is on, and your significant other wants to watch Extreme Home Makeover, you can still catch all the action, just silently, which is all you need to catch the score and see the action.

However, with the advent of split screen technology being built into the television itself, many sports channels are taking advantage of this and shooting film based on this principle. This first came to my attention as I watched a soccer match on ESPN2 a few weeks ago, and lo and behold, instead of cutting to a commercial as I expected when the match slowed down in the middle of it, the screen was split while the game's sound was reduced so that they could show a full audible commercial on the right hand side of my television screen.

I didn't know what to do. I was shocked and awed, to be honest, to see that ESPN would dilute a perfectly good game by clearly shifting focus. I would've rather sat through five to seven minutes, the average interval of commercials, gladly instead of be subjected to this type of quick shift focus of action. I mean, seriously, how do you expect fans to concentrate on a game when a very loud Snickers commercial is being broadcast right next to it?

The first thing I did was see if other people noticed it, and some of my soccer friends online, noted they did with distaste and how it took away from the game. They, too, agreed that if this was used more effectively it wouldn't be such a big deal, but this technique to air commercials split screen and loudly just destroys any respect for the game, because it's hard to continue to pay attention. What's worse is that most of my friends had seen it before and only during soccer games. So far, that's my experience, I've only seen it during soccer games but that doesn't mean it's not happening with other less-than-popular sports.

Now, I've yet to see any other sports on ESPN subjected to this type of commercialization, but it wouldn't surprise me if other less than high profile sports "like curling and bicycling" were also victims of this gross inability to highlight sports, not commercials, that ESPN has obviously taken to using to garner commercial support for their services and livelihood. It truly is a shame that ESPN is taking advantage of a developed technology.

Trust me, I totally understand the point of commercials, without commercials in some instances, many channels might fall off the face of existence. Not to mention that commercials are one of the most lucrative marketing techniques for many business, products and services. Commercials work, too, because every time I see that Coke with lime commercial, that catchy tune makes me want to try a Coke with lime, even though I'm allergic to lime. Go figure! I won't complain about this game, but I'm just curious if no commercials means no commercial breaks. If so, they could still use the split screen technique, and it'll be interesting to see if that's the case today or in the future.

When split screen technology embedded into televisions came out, it was a very good day for televisions, as many times you might be attracted to a sporting event while something else is going on. You might want to watch a movie with the family, watch the news or catch up on the latest stocks for the day while taking part in sports. Many people like to do things while they watch sports, too, whether it be cooking on the barbeque or doing homework, so, the idea that you could also watch something else while watching sports is appealing to these folks at well who may not want to sit down and watch the entirety of a 15 inning baseball game that has been tied for the last 12 innings. Split screen television was made and designed for these people, and those that use it, find it's very effective for their time and their sanity.

Most split screen technology puts the "other" screen in one of the corners of the television so that you don't miss where most of the action has been shot during a show, game or what strikes your fancy. This screen, while at first might seem obstructive, grows on the eye so that eventually it's second nature following what's going on with both "shows." It's sort of like wearing bifocal glasses, where eventually, you're used to using both lenses to see during different situations.

Once the person who uses split screen gets use to it being on their television, they are more apt to using it more frequently, especially when it comes to sporting events. This might make it easier to take the strain of such split screen commercials programmed into programs, but overall, even the most diehard split screen fan will bulk at such a deceptive tactic, because it's not what they are used to watching at all.

In fact, it goes against the spirit of true split screen technology and cheapens it with commercialism. Such is the way with television nowadays, though; channels are more concerned with making money than showing the programs that keep them alive. Unfortunately, this is the toll commercials have taken on television, and now even the blessed split screen television technology has fallen victim to such cheap marketing tactics that take away from games and most likely will take away from primetime television when it gets the chance.

One of the things that makes built-in split screen technology effective is that sound is cut off completely on the lesser program. This means you can devote your entire attention to listening to the other program when you turn away to view the latest news headlines or get the game's score. With the ESPN split screen technique, your attention is diverted to both, often the commercial winning out sound wise, which makes it hard to focus on both, which is the whole goal of split screen television technology.

What's the point of using split screen if you can't adequately focus on both events at the same time? After all, that's what it was designed, implemented and marketed for when created for televisions.

Let me tell you, right now, my favorite Major League Soccer (MLS) team D.C. United is playing against Kansas City. I'm listening to the game, my back to the television, and as I write this, I wonder how many split screen commercials ESPN will subject me to during the game. It's about to start, and I'm already cringing. (On further listening, it's an uninterrupted game today, thanks Radio Shack!)

This brings up an interesting point: While many sponsors can prevent commercials from interrupting a game, this typically happens with either big name teams or big sports. Soccer isn't a big sport in America; it's more of a cult sport, even though it's gaining in popularity. I see very few games, like today, that actually get to run commercially interrupted. Typically, many games get shown after they are played, because ESPN or ESPN2 is pre-empted with more popular live sports, sometimes, even poker.

Now, this type of split screen isn't always negative, as I've painted that picture. It can also be used positively to highlight aspects of a game, either through interviews with players or coaches. I've seen Fox and ABC use this very effectively, especially during very high profile games, such as the Super Bowl. Fox is very good at using it during NASCAR events, during the race, when they listen in on split screen while watching the race to drivers and their pit crews to see what's going on if they notice something is happening during the race. These techniques are very effective for giving the fans a better insight into that particular game, event or race.

I happen to like this type of split screen and is gives you insights into things you wouldn't have known otherwise during sports, and sometimes, I just like hearing what players and coaches have to say about a particular moment during a big game as it plays out and they aren't taking part in it. If ESPN utilized this more, instead of commercials, it might be much better for the quality of their broadcasts.

Split screen television technology was a breakthrough for the television industry. It took years to develop and a lot of hard work to make effective. It took quite a lot of convincing to get television watchers to take a chance and purchase a television with the feature, and now that television viewers use it, they see what a great asset it is to the evolution of television. It's a sham such outlets as ESPN are beginning to use that technology against the sports viewer, and it's a shame that other channels will eventually follow in their destructive wake.