When a company or an individual spreads misinformation, we like to think that it’s out of ignorance instead of greed or malice. Such as the Charter Cable customer service representative who told reader Paul that he shouldn’t cancel his cable because later this year, over-the-air broadcasts will end and he will need cable or satellite service to keep watching TV.

This might be a great argument for convincing people not to cancel their cable. The problem is that it is not, strictly speaking, true.

He writes:

I called earlier to check prices and to see if it would be better to just cancel cable and I was told that in the next few months that I would be required to have cable or satellite to watch the free OTA channels. I asked if she was sure that there was a new digital broadcast and that all tv had gone from analog to digital to “new digital” and i was told yes.

I was then yelled at when I told them they were either misinformed or out right lying. Made me laugh a little and I thought the Consumerist would like know and might like to let their readers know about it. I know some people are still not sure how digital TV works.

No, Charter representative, this is not true. If someone tries to tell you this, you should take down their name and ask to speak to their supervisor. If they won’t transfer you to their supervisor, find another way to report the representative. Over-the-air broadcasts are here to stay for now, and even come in high definition.

To review, here is the handy flowchart that our fearless leader Meg designed in 2008, when the DTV transition was looming:

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