In another interesting situation regarding a station's virtual channel, what happens if a new tv station is permitted to broadcast on an abandoned frequency in the same market where the former station using its virtual channel in broadcasting on a new (UHF) frequency?  Can they both use the same virtual channel number?  WJLP New Jersey physical channel 3 and  WFSB Connecticut physical channel 33 both use virtual channel 3 for broadcasting.  Converter boxes and tuners would tune to the RF channel 3 first, followed by the physical channel 33.
If you were in Bridgeport, Connecticut your O-T-A channels would appear as follows:

3.10  (RF3)  WJLP-DT
3.1   (RF33) WFSB-DT
3.3   (RF33) WFSB-DT
3.4   (RF33) WFSB-DT

The court case in the U.S. Court of Appeals, ongoing ~~[Link: apps.fcc.gov]

I could see this happening more with the upcoming changes in allotments.