Why does this have an impact? Because if the drones at Channel 4 want me to
'press red' to access their interactive services then they're sorely mistaken
because pressing red during a pre-recorded programme will achieve absolutely
nothing. All it will do is screw up any other recordings taking place.
As of early January, the red dot disappeared. We, that is those who detest
the use of onscreen logos and other menaces, including
LogoFreeTV.org,
thought the victory was won. Then it returned in early February... and then
was gone again from Saturday February 15th, as were the interactive services
within...
Now, personally, I'm not too bothered about the interactive content being
available, but the important thing to note is that it can be made available
without the need for a constant onscreen reminder. It's incredibly insulting
and patronising.
As of Monday February 17th, 2003, it returned. I, and many others, have had
enough.
As of Friday April 11th, 2003, things have got even worse. The picture
below is courtesy of
LogoFreeTV.org
and shows how far Channel 4 want to go to bastardise their TV programmes
by advertising new services over programmes that bear no relation.
As of Friday December 19th, 2003, as the year draws to a close, Channel 4,
Like Sky One, appear to have relaxed their behaviour with the red dot and it no longer
dominates the output like it used to. It still appears onscreen during everything
on E4, but not E4+1. In fact, while you can still 'press red' without it being
there on C4, this is not possible on E4+1. Big loss(!)
Channel 4, just please don't bring it back as the onscreen menace you once
had!
The new Channel 4 Chief in Charge of Putting More Crap Onscreen, Peter Good has
gone on record as saying:
Interestingly, viewers are far more likely to vote on a show if prompted to do
so by the presenter--as Channel 4 has learned from its experience with
Big Brother:
"If we just put on a red icon that said 'Vote!' we would get a
number of votes and we would be quite happy," Good explained. "We were
getting 2-300 votes over a period of a few minutes. But, as soon as you had
the presenter saying, 'You can phone in on this premium number or you can
press your red button,' we literally got 3,000 votes in the first 30 seconds
to a minute. So there is real power in a presenter. It's all about
promotion."
So there's proof if need be that the red dot alone doesn't work and shouldn't be
onscreen during programmes that don't need it. This new employee has proved that
he's absolutely 'Good For Nothing', is 100% incompetent and should either scrap
the red dot melee entirely, or just resign.
If you feel the same, then click the following link which will forward your
email to C4's viewer enquiries email address, along with three high-profile
members of Channel 4, along with the appropriate subject header. All you need
to do is put into the email the name of the programme for which your enjoyment
was spoiled along with a message to Channel 4. A copy of the email will also
go to Logo Free TV, who are keeping a record of all the protests made
against Channel 4.
If you include further text with your email, please keep the replies polite
and to the point.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
When Celebrity Big Brother 2 began in November last year, so did
Channel 4's permanent Red Dot, a device that they stuck onscreen 24/7 (except
during adverts), without regard to how it inflicts upon the otherwise-entertaining
comedies and dramas they show.
Why does this have an impact? Because if the drones at Channel 4 want me to
'press red' to access their interactive services then they're sorely mistaken
because pressing red during a pre-recorded programme will achieve absolutely
nothing. All it will do is screw up any other recordings taking place.
