Denver ABC affiliate KMGH-TV, faced with the prospect of no HD terrestrial feed for last Sunday's Super Bowl, did the next best thing -- installed a temporary antenna high above the Mile High City on Denver's tallest skyscraper in time for last weekend's kickoff.
Broadcasters who have been following the controversy in Denver for several years will know the reason why: The community cannot agree on installation of a permanent tower for Denver stations in an environmental dispute that began back in 1998. The group of local stations (KCNC, KMGH, KUSA and KTVD) tried to build a DTV tower on nearby Lookout Mountain that would have replaced the four existing towers for analog transmissions and reportedly strengthen all the stations' DTV signals.
The Lake Cedar Group, as the consortium is known, met with a lot of resistance from local government officials and consumer groups. In December, according to published reports, the city of Golden offered to purchase the property from the broadcasters with the objective of converting the land to open space, then went ahead and approved condemnation proceedings if the group refuses to get rid of the land.
Some residents around Lookout Mountain cite health concerns from digital broadcast frequencies that could come from the new tower. Those supporting the new tower said, in the long run, the replacement will be a visual improvement because it would replace four existing towers, it would boast a lower frequency and it would sit on property where an antenna farm has already existed for half a century. The case is currently awaiting further court action.
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