I don't know how they determine that unless it's just by visual though. I've looked at appliances at major stores (where they have lots of selection) and have found identical units just in the same store !
Since Sears sells both LG and Kenmore, it isn't difficult to identify many striking similarities. There are only a handful of companies out there that make appliances outside of the stupid money brands (Viking, Miele, Thermador, Sub-Zero and Liebherr).
Whirlpool is the company behind Amana, Jenn-Aire, Kitchen Aid and Maytag as well as four or five other brands.
Electrolux is behind Eureka, GE (appliances), Gibson, Kelvinator, Philco, Tappan, White-Westinghouse and a couple dozen other brands.
Bosch, Haier, LG and Samsung are the big brands that aren't in bed with Whirlpool or Electrolux.
Magic Chef is a mystery.
Just because the same parent company is behind them, it doesn't follow that they are all clones of each other. It is more like Chevrolet vs. Buick where one company will take the high road and the other not so much. I think it a safe bet that Sears demands more than LG does in terms of quality yet most all of the Kenmore branded equipment is built by LG.
It is important to note that while the DIRECTV picture quality was rated higher, both companies were given the same overall score (probably weighted heavily on ease of use) and both were rated as poor values. Whatever advantage DIRECTV has in picture quality, Consumer Reports believes they piss away somewhere else.
Perhaps the most damning fact behind the survey is that it is conducted using a sampling of Consumer Reports subscribers. This is contrary to what I said earlier. My bad.