Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may establish a connection with another wireless node, such as a base station or another UE. The connection may include a narrowband control region of a wideband system. The UE may identify a set of resources, which may include a set of subframes that have the same precoding or a set of resource blocks that have the same precoding, during which to monitor a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding a control channel within the narrowband. The UE may then decode the control channel using the DM-RS or a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), or both DM-RS and CRS. The UE may exclude resources of the narrowband region that include a control region for broadband communications.