• CNN.com, Friday, February 1, 2008 11:30 AM

Apparently, much of what consumers are now learning about the coming shift to digital broadcasting is wrong -- and could well end up costing them money, according to one survey. New data from Consumers Union suggests that some people think they need to buy new equipment when they don't, while others say they don't plan on taking any steps to deal with the change when they should.

"Confusion about the digital television transition will cost consumers a lot of money for equipment they may not want or need," says Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst for the Consumers Union. As of Feb. 18, 2009, all full-power television stations in the U.S. will have to turn off analog signals and broadcast only in digital, a shift that could potentially leave millions of televisions showing nothing but snow.

The publisher of Consumer Reports magazine notes that 36 percent of respondents in a recent survey did not even know about the transition. Of course, the majority of consumers with TVs hooked up to cable or satellite services will not be affected. But anyone who owns an older tube that gets its signal via antenna, will need a converter box, and Uncle Sam is willing to help them buy it. As of December 2007, Nielsen reports that 13.5 million television households, or about 12 percent, still rely on over-the-air television broadcasts for programming.

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