AFAIK, the limited frequency response of the USA national audio distribution system existed since the first (AM) radio network was set up, it's just interesting to me that, after ~40 years of (known?) poor fidelity, a composer would use instruments (musical bells in the VTTBOTS case) that almost no TV viewer would hear.


Kirk Bayne

Two reasons:

1. In NYC and LA, the two largest television markets in the USA by far, primetime audio quality was always vastly superior to what was heard elsewhere. Viewers in those markets enjoyed very high quality audio because the local stations in those cities were often in the same buildings as their respective East and West Coast network operations centers. Short hops to their local transmitters, often via microwave, kept the audio quality quite high compared to what the rest of the country was getting from AT&T Long Lines.

2. Business decisions. Since the days of I Love Lucy, producers have struggled with cost versus future proofing. Some are acutely aware that they can earn as much or more from reruns as first runs, so they invest in the future of the product by using technology and production methods that go far beyond what television can faithfully render at the current time. Others are primarily interested in a quick return, or believe their product doesn't have the future "legs" to justify the investment, or simply can't afford anything better.