” They can’t produce a TV show of the quality that HBO, Netflix, or even Amazon is doing.”
Broadcast tv is all about mass production. They crank out dozens of pilots a year, and then just cancel those that don’t catch on. So with that strategy in mind, it just doesn’t make sense for them to invest a lot in a show until it amasses an audience and they decide to extend it. Then you might see higher production values in seasons 2, 3, etc.
NBC actually pissed off a lot of people when they abruptly cancelled "Manifest" after 3 seasons in the middle of a cliffhanger.
People had invested time in the show. Now a lot of people aren't even going to bother watching anything until there's a few seasons already in the can which is going to hurt a lot of shows that might've been great but nobody wanted to invest time in.
And it's not just the networks. HBO cancelled "Raised by Wolves" after only two seasons with no conclusion. They're so worried about short-term bottom lines, they don't give a show a chance to build a fan base.
Fortunately for "Manifest" fans, Netflix has bought the show for a fourth and final season to wrap it up. This only happened due to an aggressive letter-writing campaign. And I'll bet the final season produced by Netflix is leaps and bounds of a much higher quality than the previous three seasons aired by NBC.