Widescreen TVs hurt pop star sales
By Hopscotch Mooney
Big Yellow Nasty wire services
Jessica Simpson may look slim as Daisy Duke on the big screen,
but the widescreen stretch turns sexy stems into tree trunks.
HOLLYWOOD (BYN) - While the camera was once said to add 10 pounds, the widescreen TV may be adding 37 pounds or more.
An AOL Time-Warner spokesman blamed dismal box office returns for the company's remake of the 1979 TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard" on a new phenomenon, known as the "widescreen stretch." The "widescreen stretch" is what happens to a 4-by-3 "fullscreen" TV image when it is stretched to fit the 16-by-9 aspect ratio of today's widescreen TVs, making people on the screen appear a full third wider.
"People were supposed to see this movie because Jessica Simpson looks hot in bikini tops and short shorts," said Warner Bros. spokesman Wakko Warner. "Then they see her video on MTV, and she looks chunky. What they don't realize is it's only because they're stretching the image out to widescreen."
Stretching an image from a 4-by-3 "fullscreen" to a 16-by-9 "widescreen" aspect ratio makes a picture 33 percent wider. After the stretch, a 110-pound pop star could appear as heavy as 147 pounds.
Only one in 20 American households have widescreen TVs. But executives say that 5 percent of the population represents a key demographic.
"[Widescreen TV owners are] the ones leading the charge to movie theaters," said Wiley Wiggins, founder of the Kramer Media Research Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. "They're tech-savvy, they have the disposable income, they buy the popcorn, the Pepsi, the DVDs, the T-shirts. you name it. They're the ones who go on the Internet and tell everyone whether or not they should see a movie."
Other pop stars are feeling the burn of the "stretch" as well. A source close to Lindsay Lohan says the teen queen had to drop major pounds for her role in the upcoming Robert Altman picture based on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion."
"Lots of people just think them NPR-listenin' nerdlingers gonna come out and see a movie cause it's intelligent," said the anonymous source. "But the truth is the movie's gonna make money 'cause teenagers gonna be jerkin off to my daughter on screen. And if she don't look good, they won't wanna jerk off.
"Bad enough she's gotta put up with tabloids saying she parties all the time and spreading lies about me, now they're saying she has an eating disorder. Tell that to the studio man who won't leave her alone about the widescreen thing."
Execs have blamed this phenomenon for more than just low box office.
"You look at Jessica's album sales two years ago compared to today," said Warner. "People didn't really have widescreen TVs back then."
TV industry experts say users and content providers are responsible for the problem.
"There's just not enough [high-definition] content available right now," said Best Buy salesman Scooter Anthony. "People buy widescreen TVs, but then they get mad when their so-called 'full-screen' DVDs don't look right. But if the content were available in HD, you wouldn't have a problem."
Asked about the Simpson video, Anthony replied, "I'd like to see that in HD. But since you probably can't, you have some options as far as viewing it. You can letterbox it, which will give you bars on the side but preserve the original aspect ratio. Or you can zoom in on it. That's probably what I'd do with Jessica Simpson."
You lost us there, Scooter.
TV networks, however, are reluctant to provide more high-definition content because of the high cost of filming and broadcasting in HD.
"The route we're going is a more cost-effective solution in the short term," said Warner. "We've got Jessica on a strict diet and training regimen for her next movie tie-in video. If she reaches her goal of 78 [pounds], she'll look 110 after the stretch. It's as simple as that."
Big Yellow Nasty wire services
Jessica Simpson may look slim as Daisy Duke on the big screen, but the widescreen stretch turns sexy stems into tree trunks.
HOLLYWOOD (BYN) - While the camera was once said to add 10 pounds, the widescreen TV may be adding 37 pounds or more.
An AOL Time-Warner spokesman blamed dismal box office returns for the company's remake of the 1979 TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard" on a new phenomenon, known as the "widescreen stretch." The "widescreen stretch" is what happens to a 4-by-3 "fullscreen" TV image when it is stretched to fit the 16-by-9 aspect ratio of today's widescreen TVs, making people on the screen appear a full third wider.
"People were supposed to see this movie because Jessica Simpson looks hot in bikini tops and short shorts," said Warner Bros. spokesman Wakko Warner. "Then they see her video on MTV, and she looks chunky. What they don't realize is it's only because they're stretching the image out to widescreen."
Stretching an image from a 4-by-3 "fullscreen" to a 16-by-9 "widescreen" aspect ratio makes a picture 33 percent wider. After the stretch, a 110-pound pop star could appear as heavy as 147 pounds.
Only one in 20 American households have widescreen TVs. But executives say that 5 percent of the population represents a key demographic.
"[Widescreen TV owners are] the ones leading the charge to movie theaters," said Wiley Wiggins, founder of the Kramer Media Research Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. "They're tech-savvy, they have the disposable income, they buy the popcorn, the Pepsi, the DVDs, the T-shirts. you name it. They're the ones who go on the Internet and tell everyone whether or not they should see a movie."
Other pop stars are feeling the burn of the "stretch" as well. A source close to Lindsay Lohan says the teen queen had to drop major pounds for her role in the upcoming Robert Altman picture based on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion."
"Lots of people just think them NPR-listenin' nerdlingers gonna come out and see a movie cause it's intelligent," said the anonymous source. "But the truth is the movie's gonna make money 'cause teenagers gonna be jerkin off to my daughter on screen. And if she don't look good, they won't wanna jerk off.
"Bad enough she's gotta put up with tabloids saying she parties all the time and spreading lies about me, now they're saying she has an eating disorder. Tell that to the studio man who won't leave her alone about the widescreen thing."
Execs have blamed this phenomenon for more than just low box office.
"You look at Jessica's album sales two years ago compared to today," said Warner. "People didn't really have widescreen TVs back then."
TV industry experts say users and content providers are responsible for the problem.
"There's just not enough [high-definition] content available right now," said Best Buy salesman Scooter Anthony. "People buy widescreen TVs, but then they get mad when their so-called 'full-screen' DVDs don't look right. But if the content were available in HD, you wouldn't have a problem."
Asked about the Simpson video, Anthony replied, "I'd like to see that in HD. But since you probably can't, you have some options as far as viewing it. You can letterbox it, which will give you bars on the side but preserve the original aspect ratio. Or you can zoom in on it. That's probably what I'd do with Jessica Simpson."
You lost us there, Scooter.
TV networks, however, are reluctant to provide more high-definition content because of the high cost of filming and broadcasting in HD.
"The route we're going is a more cost-effective solution in the short term," said Warner. "We've got Jessica on a strict diet and training regimen for her next movie tie-in video. If she reaches her goal of 78 [pounds], she'll look 110 after the stretch. It's as simple as that."
posted by Tim @ 5:22 PM
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