ITV teletext gone

BrianD3

ITV and C4 teletext service has closed today. Well there are some pages that will continue but all news, sport etc. are gone. Given that the service has been around since the mid seventies (albeit with a different operator up until 1993) I thought i'd mark it here. Within couple of years BBC Ceefax will be gone too.

Who here still reads analogue teletext?

amacachi

I still read it, and Ceefax, pity to see it go, end of an era.

Mossy Monk

I haven't had access to teletext on BBC, ITV or C4 for years but I did read them a lot. I loved Bamboozle on C4.

krudler

you've got the entire internet at your fingers but would rather wait for painfully slow, mostly missing text on a tv? good riddance i say

mike65

So we can expect RTE to ditch Aertel in about 2078 then?

amacachi

krudler wrote: »

you've got the entire internet at your fingers but would rather wait for painfully slow, mostly missing text on a tv? good riddance i say

Not if you have an aerial less than 40 years old and more than 10 foot off the ground.

BrianD3

krudler wrote: »

you've got the entire internet at your fingers but would rather wait for painfully slow, mostly missing text on a tv? good riddance i say

Well when I am sitting on my sofa, watching TV, I'm not on the internet. If I want to, say, check a latest score during an ad break, it's 4 button presses and comes up very quickly. Yes the appearance of teletext must be laughable for anyone who has not known a world without the internet. Content is still good though.

And when I am on the internet, one of my most visited sites is
http://www.rte.ie/aertel/

amacachi

BrianD3 wrote: »

Well when I am sitting on my sofa, watching TV, I'm not on the internet. If I want to, say, check a latest score during an ad break, it's 4 button presses and comes up very quickly. Yes the appearance of teletext must be laughable for anyone who has not known a world without the internet. Content is still good though.

And when I am on the internet, one of my most visited sites is
http://www.rte.ie/aertel/

Also on BBC first thing in the morning text->plus 1 and there's what's happened since the night before.

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm gutted to be honest. Page 401 was usually my first port of call for football news. Also loved the rants on page 479.

Page 130 was good for TV news. Used to love reading Digitiser on Channel 4.

I have a lot of fond memories of it. It was much better than Ceefax and Aertel.

Koloman

amacachi wrote: »

I still read it, and Ceefax, pity to see it go, end of an era.

Same here. It's a pity it's gone. Apparently the plan was to switch it off in 2012 but that was brought forward to this year as there was no viable business plan to keep it going.

AlmightyCushion

BrianD3 wrote: »

Well when I am sitting on my sofa, watching TV, I'm not on the internet. If I want to, say, check a latest score during an ad break, it's 4 button presses and comes up very quickly. Yes the appearance of teletext must be laughable for anyone who has not known a world without the internet. Content is still good though.

This is where having a pc hooked up to your tv is very handy.

BrianD3

Anyone have fond memories of ORACLE pages? I particularly remember Beatbox and Josh's/Debbie's diary. I also well remember the last night of ORACLE with the main page gradually disappearing until only a small white square was left.

When Teletext Ltd acquired the franchise, things changed a lot. For a while they had a "sex" section that only came on late at night. IIRC it was called.....After Hours How quaint.

jmbkay

I will miss the teletext. I split the screen, having the picture on one half and the text on the other. End of an era. At least its still on RTE and Sky.

amacachi

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'm gutted to be honest. Page 401 was usually my first port of call for football news. Also loved the rants on page 479.

Page 130 was good for TV news. Used to love reading Digitiser on Channel 4.

I have a lot of fond memories of it. It was much better than Ceefax and Aertel.

Was 479 the football or gambling page? The football was pretty funny but the gambling one was my favorite, really hope no-one ever took it to heart. :pac:

Mr.Nice Guy

amacachi wrote: »

Was 479 the football or gambling page? The football was pretty funny but the gambling one was my favorite, really hope no-one ever took it to heart. :pac:

It was the football one. I wasn't aware of the gambling page. I'd imagine it was filled with a good few wind-up merchants like the football one.

KrazeeEyezKilla

The games sections were great and felt more trustworthy than most magazines I used to read. The same goes for the music section although it hasn't been as good the last couple of years. The best thing about it was the letters pages, especially the news one and the music and childrens ones on Ceefax. The cranks and idiots who were on there used to make me pi$$ my self laughing.

BrianD3 wrote: »

When Teletext Ltd acquired the franchise, things changed a lot. For a while they had a "sex" section that only came on late at night. IIRC it was called.....After Hours How quaint.

I was very young at the time but I saw it once. When I first found this site that's what I thought the After Hours forum would be like. It would be better like that.

The Express

The old skool graphics for sun, snowflakes and star signs....flashbacks!

amacachi

Ah no, no Merry Christmas message on teletext this year.

Jazzy

the final ultimate nail in digitisers coffin

RIP Gamescentral

cactus86

thankfully gamecentral is still going at

www.teletext.co.uk/gamecentral

it was always great, no fanboys or anything. They recently asked the viewers if they would prefer a forum over the regular letters page, the answer was a resounding no.

KevIRL

So long Bamber