Before ABC launches its fast-forwardless VOD service to prevent people from skipping ads, it should check out new research from NBC on what types of commercials viewers retain — even at high speed. Turns out people are still engaged with the ads, even though they’re being zapped.

The Wall Street Journal writes that NBC’s study found that 69 percent of viewers watching the regular-speed live ad remembered the ad the next day. While only 25 percent of viewers blasting through commercials at top speed could remember the ad the next day, commercial skippers are paying more attention to the screen as they fast forward, since they watch rather than listen for audio cues that their show is back on.

From The Wall Street Journal piece:

The most successful ads concentrated the action and the brand’s logo in the middle of the screen, didn’t rely on multiple scene changes, audio or text to tell the story, and often used familiar characters. People were also more likely to remember an ad in fast-forward mode if they had seen it once before live.

While advertisers and broadcasters probably won’t find DVReligion based on this study, it’s nice to see a network figuring out how to work with new technology, rather than just trying to stamp it out.