Consumer Protection In The News

Digital TV? HDTV? Direct TV?

After February 17, 2009, about 22 million consumers who watch broadcast television --- using an antenna to pull signals from the air --- will need a digital converter to continue watching their soaps and sitcoms on an older TV set.

But according to Mixed Signals, a report from the Maryland Public Interest Research Group, consumers can't rely on retailers for information about the transition, including the $40 coupons the federal government is giving away to help people buy converters. Check out my story about it here.

Nationally, about 40 percent of staff did not know when the transition would take place, and one in five clerks tried to convince secret shoppers to purchase a new television or a converter box with additional features that would disqualify it from the coupon program. 

Also, more than a third of stores were still selling analog televisions, which will be obsolete after the conversion without a converter. But at nearly 70 percent of those shops, sets had hard-to-read or incorrect labels.

Steve Hannan, executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, says that part of the confusion stems from a mix-up between digital television and high definition, or HDTV, which is a digital television format that offers enhanced picture quality.

Direct TV is a satellite cable provider, and no, you don't need that either. 

Here's the bottom line: