More Issues In the News

In a year, the nation's television stations will switch off their analog signals in favor of digital signals, and that means big changes in the way you receive stations like 9NEWS.

Wednesday, members of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) released a study which suggests you may not be getting the best information available about the upcoming transition.

"The results of our survey are clear. Retail sales clerks are providing inaccurate or misleading information about the upcoming digital transition," said Grady Nesbitt in a press release from CoPIRG.

"To consumers, it does not matter whether sales clerks were intentionally misleading (shoppers) to sell more expensive items, or if they were simply misinformed," Nesbitt added. "The result is the same. Consumers will pay too much for unneeded equipment or services."

CoPIRG and other public advocacy groups around the country sent in secret shoppers into stores last fall trying to see if information they were given was accurate.

In Colorado, the survey found among other things: 94 percent of sales staff provided inaccurate information about digital converter boxes, 81 percent of sales staff provided inaccurate information about the federal government's coupon program to help people buy the converter boxes, and 19 percent of sales staff provided inaccurate information about the transition date.

That date is Feb. 17, 2009.

In the end, CoPIRG's Kirpal Singh says people don't need to complicate this matter too much. If you receive your television signal over a dish or through cable, you should be fine when the switchover takes place, even if you still have an old analog TV.

If you receive your signal over the air (with the help of an antenna) and use an old analog set, you will need to get a converter box before the switch happens next year in order to continue using your television.

This week some large electronic stores started putting the converter boxes on their shelves. Most of them should have the boxes on their shelves by the beginning of next week. They generally run anywhere between $40 and $70. Each household is eligible to receive two coupons from the government to lessen the cost of a converter box by $40.

At ListenUp in Denver, they say they continue to get a lot of questions from shoppers. The store was not questioned in the CoPIRG study. Chris Havekost, the store manager for the South Pearl Street store, says his staff remains dedicated to providing the best information about the upcoming transition. His best piece of advice: "This is true of any buying experience. Whenever someone tells you you've got to do something, get a second opinion."

He says if you want to get a digital television set, now is a great time to do so. However, he adds, if you want to hold off, you should weather the transition just fine. Provided, he says, you know the facts.

To find out what you need to do for the DTV conversion, click here.