I've run into a few poor recordings (ads on a couple of cable channels as well as a few local news broadcasts) where there is some material that sounds as if the original recording was clipped somewhat. On the ads, this material often ends up in the surrounds, whereas the local news broadcasts tend to exhibit it on all channels. As far as the case of CSI NY, you may have run into something odd happening at the cable company or the local network affiliate - something that would not affect the HD broadcast's Dolby Digital audio. It is certainly a bit odd, though.