Ok, I know they are both supposed to be 1280X720p, and both are owned by the same company, but ABC's HD feed sure looks way better then ESPN does. The basketball game yesterday blew away any game that ESPN put on recently. I guess the picture can be affected by venue issues, such as lighting, but to me there sure is a marked difference between the two networks. Btw, I wish ABC would address their audio drop out issues. This has been going on too long. And while we're at it, tell Hubie Brown to shut the F up for a while.
ABC HD vs ESPN HD
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Was that ABC OTA versus ESPNHD via satellite?
No, they were both off the sat.
could'a been shaving bits... 
I watched the game the other night on ESPNHD and in my opinion, the quality was far below the ABC HD (on D*) game on last Sunday. What reasons could there be for ESPN shaving bits? Does it save money?
Sat is responsible for the compression.
So what you're saying is that D* compressed the ESPN game more then they did the ABC feed? Would they alot more bandwidth to ABCHD then they would to ESPNHD? If so, why?
One speculation is that there is some hidden deal between them and the ABC national feed, i.e. no bit shaving...