HD signal quality and the failed grade B signal model
For generations the NAB has transmitted over free spectrum entrusted to them with the sole requirement that they serve the public. I suggest they have failed greatly at their charge. Not due to content, or morality issues, but basic signal delivery. While there are a few stations that do provide adequate signal throughout their coverage area, most do not.
The root of the issue is the Longley-Rice signal model that dates to the origins of television itself. Longley-Rice was a tool used to prevent interference between overlapping stations. Stations typically take the high ground, using towers and tall buildings to extend their reach. However a coverage radius and good signal are two entirely different things.
Over the years the Longley Rice model morphed from a tool to prevent overlap, to one that would predict reception. One only needs to place an OTA antenna in a hilly terrain to disprove that model. By today
