Earlier this year, I was betrayed by an old and trusted friend. That friend was the ABC.

The introduction of watermarks on ABC broadcasts has left me stunned, frustrated and angry. I never, ever expected that our national broadcaster would consider polluting their high quality broadcasts the way the commercial stations do.

The ABC has lost its unique identity—it now looks like a commercial station, and I'm livid with rage over this, as a taxpayer and as a viewer.

My anger as a taxpayer should not need explanation. My anger as a viewer revolves around multiple issues that I will explain in more detail.

Quality Loss

The ABC broadcasts shows that are consistently more interesting, more relevant, more diverse and more attractive than the other TV networks. Now these broadcasts are permanently stained with watermarks that are brighter, closer to the centre of the picture and appear for longer than most of the commercial stations. Due to the degraded appeal caused by the watermarks, the total time I watch the ABC per month would now barely reach 15 minutes. I have been deprived of a trustworthy source of entertainment, and as a result, I have begun purchasing DVDs of my favourite shows through Internet stores instead of watching them on ABC TV.

Inconsistent Watermarking

The ABC watermarks change shape, colour, brightness and position in an irritatingly inconsistent manner. I've seen some watermarks with flawed rendering such as bleeding edges or rows of pixels. Sometimes there are double watermarks, often overlapping. I have seen one instance of three simultaneous watermarks on the screen.

The watermark vanished from Dr Who for several weeks in February and March, then suddenly returned. It sometimes vanishes at the start of the news and some other shows then returns after about 10 minutes.

The latest technique—which seems experimental—is to use a watermark that changes contrast according to the colour of the image underneath. I think this pulsating effect is more irritating than a fixed image.

The ABC told me in March that the brightness of the watermark had been reduced by half and it had been moved to the bottom right of the screen. Several weeks later I was told that the watermark brightness had been increased from 7% to 12% and it had moved closer to the screen centre to keep it “effective yet unobstrusive”.

The Standard Reply

The ABC is tediously churning out a standard reply to all complaints via email, phone or letter. The standard reply justifies the use of watermarks with three points: (1) Standard practice (2) Station identification (3) Copyright protection.

The ABC's arguments to justify the use of watermarks are nothing but specious nonsense. Even worse, it reveals a frightening lack of technical knowledge and insight about modern broadcasting technology. The ABC's arguments can be dismissed easily:

1. The ABC claims it can use watermarks because other stations do and it's a ‘standard practice'. There is no ‘standard' for watermarking, either locally or internationally. Some BBC stations are actually removing watermarks.
2. There is no need for a permanent on-screen image to identify a station. My 3-year-old remote control can optionally flash the station number when the channel is changed, or I can display the number whenever it's needed. In the digital broadcast scenario, the identification argument ignores the fact that the signal contains rich programming information of which the ID is only a tiny part. This information can be displayed at any time.
3. Whose copyright is being protected by watermarks on the ABC? Where is the threat and how serious is it? I challenge anyone to find a single case of ‘bootlegging' of ABC broadcasts, either now or in the history of Australian television. In any case, how can the ABC claim to be protecting the copyright of shows they don't own? I can't imagine the makers of Dr Who or The Bill thanking the ABC for putting watermarks on their shows because it might prevent copyright violations.

The standard reply of the ABC is a litany of misinformation, deception and ignorance.

Summary

The ABC currently exists in a harsh political environment, so I can't see how it is a wise time to introduce watermarks that can serve no other purpose than to ruin the broadcast quality and alienate viewers. I fear that the first small step has been taken to ultimately destroy the ABC as we have always known it.

All of my life I've been a trusting viewer of the ABC and I've felt mild international pride that we have such a station. My trust has been shattered, the ABC has lost its unique quality and I no longer watch it.
I'm desperately hoping that the ABC Advisory Council is sympathetic to my concerns over the use of watermarks and that it can use its influence to campaign for the removal of watermarks from ABC broadcasts.

Yours sincerely,
Greg Keogh