Greg,

I received identical email responses from the ABC as you have on the web page!

In the end I sent them one final email and told them that it was clear they were not interested in the public's view on the watermark and that I did not expect another reply because the decision had been made and that they were to immature to accept they were wrong! LOL

I wrote yesterday to the ABC again for the anniversary saying the decision to watermark was dumb in 2005 and is still dumb in 2006.

I also sent an email to SBS saying much the same thing.

I know both will be totally ignored.

I must admit this round of letters was actually sparked by Channel 9's new logo which is not only huge and very ugly and intrusive.

No wonder they refused to comment when asked about screen burn by the newspapers last week!

I did say to both SBS and the ABC that the position of the logo in 16:9 was particularly appalling and that in any case the watermarking had reduced my viewing of both of them substantially!

An interesting sidenote on SBS is that WorldMovies on Foxtel/Optus is not watermarked. I now watch WorldMovies in preference to anything on SBS!

In about 2000 WorldMovies introduced watermarking and after less than a week of complaint it was removed.

What was interesting was that at the time World Movies had a forum on their website.

The forum was deluged with complaints ...when the watermark was removed ...so was the forum!

g'day greg and friends

I like you have had a series of emails and letters to and from the ABC and SBS. All unsatisfactory.

It is clear that some management idiots have their career browny points tied up in this stupid watermarking thing. And that neither SBS or the ABC are in anyway interested in public feedback on this issue ..which I might... add I told them.

I tried to get them to admit that the result was a lowering of the standard of the viewer exeperience which they implicitly accept. BUT they are so arrogant in their respose I have essentially given up on this issue.

It is clear that no amount of public resistance will change their stupid thick headed policy (and my insiders at the ABC said they got less complaints than they expected...which in istelf says something ..clearly they were expecting a lot of complaints because they knew what they were doing was bad for the viewers!)

It is now twelve months since the ABC introduced its vile watermark and in that time my watching of ABC programming (and latterly SBS) has fallen dramatically.

I rarely watch movies on SBS anymore and with the ABC, whose programming has fallen through the floor anyway under the managment of the same people who dumped their video graffitti all over my television screen, my viewing is essentially limited to the news and the odd documentary.

Have you noticed Nine's new logo ..HUGE, OPAQUE and even uglier than before? This is a worry because the dumb management at the ABC will feel it is ok to assault us with and even more horrible watermark!

And SBS is a total writeoff!

your faithfully
(full name witheld)