I just wrote the following letter to Nashville's NBC affiliate WSMV 4.
To whom it may concern:
Why does WSMV force all of its widescreen shows (SNL, The Office, Heroes, The Tonight Show, etc) to full screen?
When you force widescreen to full screen you cut off a portion of the picture. A few weeks ago, I was watching Saturday Night Live and the sketch involved two actors sitting across from each other at a long table. Neither of the actors could be seen in the frame because the program had been forced to full screen!
The vast majority of people are used to widescreen because of the DVD industry. So, people are used to the black bars at the top and bottom.
Why does channel 4 do this?
Sincerely,
Eric Coomer
I'll let you know when and if they write back.
