Three years ago, the Sinclair Inc. property branded as “NBC Montana” received FCC approval to shift from VHF Channel 13 to UHF Channel 20, an upgrade in the digital TV era for the Missoula-based property. However, interference concerns turned out to be greater than originally anticipated, and a new channel for the station was sought.
The Video Division Chief within the FCC’s Media Bureau just said yes for the channel shift.
As such, KECI-TV will be taking UHF Channel 21, in Missoula, after no other comments were received in response to Sinclair’s request.
What led to the tweak? In preparing to construct new facilities on Channel 20 for both KECI-TV and KTVM-TV in Butte, Mont., in a co-channel relationship, Sinclair’s local engineering staff determined that despite the predictions, the actual interference consequences of both stations operating on channel 20 at Missoula and Butte would result in a more significant number of persons receiving interference, and that the interference would not be localized but spread throughout large portions of the KTVM-TV and KECI-TV service areas.
