How do we get viewers to watch commercials? That has been a major advertising question for both network and basic cable channels since the advent of fast-forwarding DVRs and commercial-free pay cable.

A new idea is taking hold at Fox, and it’s a more appealing solution — for viewers — than product placement. As far as I’m concerned, dropping products into TV shows and, worse, integrating a brand name into a TV show’s narrative, usually betray what ought to be a church-state divide.

Most of the time, viewers — especially younger viewers — don’t quite know they’re being manipulated into craving Coca-Cola.

The new idea: the six-second “unskippable’’ commercial. We frequently see them online, on YouTube. You have to watch an ad for at least 6 seconds before you can access, say, a clip from “Saturday Night Live.’’ In a TV setting, they’re too short to fast-forward through, so you’ll wait them out, with your eyes and your ears open.

First, Fox Networks Group will unroll the short ads on their digital and on-demand properties. But eventually, according to Fox, the ads will appear on TV, too. Fox is the first broadcast television company to take on the ad format that YouTube introduced last year.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.