why does NBC sound so bad? are networks different


or is it the transmission towers?

I have Directv and my receiver supports off air antenna. When I listen to CBS it sounds terrific, FOX and ABC sound great as well but NBC sounds muffled, like cotton in my ears. This happens on all programs.

I have often wondered why NBC sounds so much worse.

Does anyone know is it the signal the networks send? (doubtful)

Is it the local towers? (my best guess)

Has anyone else noticed this?

any info appreciated...

fwiw the off air channels sound way better than the ones I get over the satellite.
128x128philjolet
I don't pay extra for locals on d*. I spent a good deal of time with antennas long before there were more than two or three HD channels and really never could say that the off air reception was any better. YMMV depending where you live. There is a fair amount of multipath around my neighborhood due to hills.
Where I live,(closer to Buffalo NY, than Toronto)I have found that whether I run satellite or free air, that some programs just seem less clear than others.

Most dramas seem to have the poorest dialog resoulution.

The type of programming that I don't enjoy to watch(the cheap to produce reality or game show drivel)are clearer.

Now is this deliberate?

By the way,the Wives will be going off the air, so my wife tells me.

I wonder what will replace it, the Desparate Bachelorettes of Hootersville?
fwiw I recently switched to cable TV and all the networks sound (more or less) the same.

I think the local transmitting tower was sending a lower quality NBC signal causing low quality sound on Directv.

thanks all

Phil
I just read an interview with Alan Parsons, famed recording engineer for Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and many others. He said TV sound, and most especially in the U.S., was "dreadful". He said that it was basically because there seemed to be little effort made for quality sound and that audio was run through many different processes, all with degrading effects, before it was even broadcast. One could assume the various cable entities such as Directv, Comcast, et. al. introduce additional degradations. Until enough people make it clear there's a problem it won't go away.