An apparatus and method provides channel phase compensation for a digital radio frequency RF channel, by analyzing a demodulated signal (24) communicated over the digital RF channel and generates data representing an estimate of a channel phase (28), based on channel symbol reliability data (242) generated for at least one channel symbol received over the RF channel. The apparatus and method iteratively generates channel symbol reliability data (242) for a same symbol until a frame containing the symbol is determined to either pass a frame error threshold or until a predetermined number of iterations of channel phase estimates for a symbol is detected.