The "700" channels will only broadcast in 16:9 if the content is actually HD. The commercials on ABC HD are the same commercials on ABC. You can't create HD on content when it doesn't exist. Certain shows aren't created in HD yet too. So when you're watching that show, its going to be in 4:3 even though its on your HD channel. I think this fall, when all the new shows come out, there will be a lot more HD programming then in previous years.
...Yes, on Time Warner here in NYC the "700" Series channels are all supposed to be HD, yet, with the exception of Discovery and NET, the other "HD" channels look indistinguishable from their "regular bretheren. They are broadcast in 4:3 and don't look any different from the "regular" CBS, NBC and ABC channels. The two true HD channels look absolutely stunning.
Oh, I almost forgot, last night ABC broadcast an NFL preseason game in true HD on the ABC HD channel and it looked amazing. True 16:9, incredible clarity, unmistakably true HD. When they went to commercials, however, it was back to the 4:3 grainy picture crap. And this was on the "HD' version of ABC.
Can anyone help unravel what all this is about? It's very confusing.

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