Beware of marketing ploys

Watch out for marketers trying to cash in on the digital-TV transition. One of our consumer advocates reported that stores were telling Spanish-speaking customers that they needed to buy a converter box along with a new DTV, which is untrue. Also, some companies are pitching antennas as "digital ready," implying that standard UHF/VHF antennas won't work; they will. Adding to the confusion: Cable companies were moving analog channels to digital tiers, then charging for digital boxes needed to get those channels. Consumers Union expressed concern that cable companies were trying to profit from the DTV transition. Cable companies agreed to stop moving analog channels to digital tiers through February 2009.