Advertisers, broadcasters fight over who owns the HD sidebars during 4x3 commercials
Surprisingly, even in 2010 not every commercial on high definition channels is actually in HD, and for channels like TBS that fill in the sides of 4x3 content with their own branded bars, advertisers are suddenly finding issue with competing for screen space. Things reached a head when TBS used its bars to promote the new late night Conan show, and now the Association of National Advertisers has come out with a statement indicating the sidebars belong to the advertiser, not the network, while the ad is running unless otherwise agreed. Of course, simply making commercials in HD (if they're going to be on, they should at least look good) would fix this, but until then well see who has the upper hand in this battle of wills.
