Due to technical difficulties, Gunnison Valley residents likely will not see the over-the-air NBC9 channel restored ahead of the Super Bowl and the Olympics.

Background

Last April, the Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District (MetRec) Board of Directors voted to discontinue over-the-air TV broadcasting.

The remote chain signal shut down on June 1, 2025, with the main chain that serves Gunnison to Mt. Crested Butte scheduled to shut off on June 1, 2026. The extra year for the main chain was to allow testing of an innovative solution aimed at continued long-term OTA broadcasts in Gunnison, where the majority of viewers live. MetRec planned to test sourcing television programming directly from Denver stations via internet through 2025 and into early 2026 before replacing the existing satellite-fed programming.

However, in August 2025, new cellular 5G signals on W Mountain caused significant interference issues with MetRec’s satellite TV signal, essentially taking down all channels. Fortunately, MetRec had one Denver Direct Feed operational and expedited the transition for the others.

Many challenges have been addressed, and many more are yet to be encountered. MetRec has been working hard to find a long-term solution, offering the major networks and their Denver-based affiliates to the Gunnison market served directly from W Mountain.

By December 2025, MetRec was receiving five stations via Denver Direct Feeds. Since then, significant problems with two of those stations—including NBC, the network carrying the Super Bowl and Olympics—have arisen. Three stations remain operational: PBS, Fox and CBS.

The NBC Issue

The KUSA feed (NBC) experienced instability due to internet bandwidth issues at its Denver station. In December, KUSA’s instability increased, threatening the integrity of other direct feeds. To protect working over-the-air broadcasts, MetRec TV Engineer Bill Frost took the KUSA feed offline.

Despite best efforts, the parties were unable to reach a solution. KUSA has not been able to resolve the stability issues on their end. They returned MetRec’s direct feed equipment.

The KUSA feed comprises 2.2 Charge!, 9.1 NBC9, 9.2 Cozi TV, 9.3 True Crime Network, 9.5 Quest TV, and 9.6 The Nest.

The ABC Issue

The Denver Direct Feed pilot encountered another significant problem with the KMGH station, an ABC affiliate. KMGH’s parent company and MetRec could not reach terms for a retransmission agreement. As a result, MetRec must take that station offline.

The KMGH feed supplies channels 3.1 Local3, 3.2 Grit, 7.1 Denver7, 10.1 Laff, 10.2 Ion, and 10.3 QVC.