Sure we can compare the quality of various iterations of the
State of the Union HDTV broadcast, but we're pretty sure that
most people bought their HDTVs to
watch football instead of politics. So, which network brought us the best broadcasts of this -- almost complete -- NFL season?
Mediaweek took a look at the season that was, preferring CBS' 1080i broadcast over Fox's 720p, but like many of us are still trying to figure out why the network only broadcasts 3 games a week in HD. C'mon CBS, we're even getting
live HDTV from Hawaii now, are you going to tell us an afternoon game in Cincinnati has to be in standard def? NBC joined the crowd this year with
Sunday Night Football and ESPN took over Monday Night Football from ABC, but with CBS airing the Super Bowl we look forward to a quality broadcast with just one game scheduled that day.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike @ Jan 24th 2007 3:27PM
CBS is far and away the best. It can be a little too sharp on the far camera, but overall it's awesome. I like NBC, but there's way too much pixelation going on. Hopefully that'll be removed next season. ESPN HD looks good, but that ticker is gross, I'd say they're tied with NBC.
I mainly watch Fox (Eagles fan) and think that the quality varies. It's not as clean as CBS, but the production is better. I also prefer CBS audio. I hope Fox wises up and goes 1080i next season, there's an obvious difference. My biggest knock against Fox is that their ticker takes up way too much space. What's up with the grill ontop of the ticker.
So, for my money:
CBS
Fox
NBC
ESPN
Javier Ruiz-Leon @ Jan 24th 2007 3:36PM
I am glad that the super bowl will not air on NBC, worst channel for HDTV football.
ef @ Jan 24th 2007 3:41PM
i liked nbc the best with espn second fox ahead of cbs just because they actually broadcast in hd as opposed to cbs where there was 1 cbs game in HD in baltimore this season (craziness)
Fox has the strangest color on my set with DARK green grass, maybe its a setting on my tv but it actually looks more like watching a game of Madden 07 than NFL!
We better see a full hd lineup from cbs next season!
Garry @ Jan 24th 2007 4:08PM
For my money:
CBS indeed has the best broadcast. Fewest artifacts, cleanest picture (likely a result of 1080i), and best audio.
ESPN/ABC are second, with good PQ overall, decent audio, but a few motion artifacts.
NBC is third primarily due to still more motion artifacts, but really almost as good as ESPN.
FOX is an absolute last place. In wide-angle pans, there are so many motion artifacts it appears as if I'm watching the old OTA UHF broadcasts. Either that, or it snows at every NFL game. But only for 3-5 seconds at a time, and only when the camera is moving. Even close-ups show artifacts. It's as if Fox is compressing their own feed before letting the providers do it (again).
/my $0.02
JBob @ Jan 26th 2007 1:59PM
"It's as if Fox is compressing their own feed "before letting the providers do it (again)."
They ARE compressing it. That's how they're able to show every game in HD. They made a big deal, when they started showing all the games in HD, about how they were going to be able to fit 3 or 4 games in the same bandwidth as it normally take s for one. Unfortunately, the picture quality suffers (Wide shots look *horrible*).
CBS doesn't do this, so that's part of the reason why they have a better picture quality, and why they don't broadcast every game in HD (not enough bandwidth yet).
walk2k @ Jan 24th 2007 4:34PM
I didn't notice any compression artifacts on NBC. You're probably watching on satellite which extra-compresses the signal (HD-lite). Try it on a cable company that simply passes on the signal without re-compression like mine does.
Considering every game NBC did (Sunday night) was in HD, plus the fact that they scored the best announcers in the NFL from MNF, I'd have to go with NBC.
CBS would be runner-up, but as other have said, not every game was in HD.
ESPN is usually good, though I can NOT stand the new MNF announcers.
Fox is absolutely the worst. I want to throttle Joe Buck every time he opens his ignorant mouth!
Larry @ Jan 24th 2007 4:43PM
For me Fox is the best. A full slate of HD games every week beats CBS's product every week of the years.
My ranking would be.
Fox
ESPN
CBS
NFL Network
NBC
walk2k @ Jan 24th 2007 5:21PM
Actually I take it back. NFL Network was the worst. The lip sync was off half the time, even during the commercials! Plus Bryant Gumbel is THE worst play-by-play guy I've ever heard. Seriously, what was he thinking??
Cody @ Jan 24th 2007 8:14PM
I'd say:
CBS
NBC
ESPN
FOX
I'm tempted to put NBC first, but its hard to tell if it just looked better since (I think all) NBC games were night games, which look nicer with the lights on, or if it was actually a better picture.
John @ Jan 24th 2007 11:11PM
1080i has too much pixelization on fast action scenes. 720p is a much better format for sports, especially football. FOX coverage and production value is tops.
Hintertux @ Jan 26th 2007 12:13PM
Quite frankly CBS pisses me off. They played two playoff games in SD instead of HD. later that day I saw some highlights on FoxHD of those games and they were in HD recorded by CBS. I have no understanding of a TV company that can't show their game in HD on the their so called HD channel. Even though FoxHD does not play their games in 1080i I prefer them as the game looks a thousand times better on FoxHD than on CBSHD when CBS uses SD.
Diceburna @ Jan 28th 2007 8:26PM
I'll agree w/ walk2k the NFL Ntwrk broadcast was by far the worse. CBS and ESPN tho untouchable. Fox was not good at the beginneing but towards the end (i.e. the bcs game) was pretty good
bgdc1 @ Jan 29th 2007 2:09PM
CBS sucks so royally. I watch about 6-10 games each NFL weekend and CBS only pushes 3 games or so in HD. So if you're a fan of the AFC, you better hope the team rates HD by the Cheap Broadcasting System or that the game is on NBC/ESPN.