UK Teletext

watty

Apparently UK analogue Teletext closed end of the year 31/12/2010

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=46164357&postcount=262

icdg

This refers to Teletext with a Capital T, i.e. Teletext Limited, the service that operated on ITV and Channel 4, rather than teletext as a platform.

Lets recap exactly what happened here.

With the declining number of analogue viewers, Teletext Limited saw an opportunity to try and get away with cutting all of its "public service obligation" services such as news and current affairs. These had been part of its licence since it won the public teletext licence from previous holders Oracle in the 1991 ITV franchise auction. However it obviously thought there was someone using teletext, as it wanted to continue broadcasting its commercial services such as horse racing coverage and Holidays.

Teletext Limited thought they could get away with this. Ofcom told them to think again and terminated their licence.

Since then Teletext have been broadcasting on analogue without a licence, in breach of UK law. They've been fined by Ofcom for this. There's a law of diminishing returns to consider here, continue broadcasting to a smaller and smaller number of people (illegally, I may add) and risk another fine or pull the service completely. They've apparently chosen the latter which is probably the best choice for them since they are not interested in providing the service they were contracted to provide. (But I just checked Channel 4 analogue. Racing pages on P470 are still running...)

Both BBC Ceefax and what's left of Skytext (a couple of pages on analogue Sky News) are still broadcasting. The former will go when ASO happens and I'm still not sure why exactly the latter is still on air (someone in BSkyB possibly hasn't noticed, there are very few UK viewers now recieving Sky News on analogue platform).

watty

Yes, the BBC service since the beginning is called Ceefax ,(""See Facts"), the name inspired by the CX


Further mostly correct info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceefax

I did see a demo of the "highest" level Teletext, which had embedded real photos carried (slowly) in it.

People refer often to Analogue and Digital Teletext, meaning Teletext or Newer Interactive Text. But Teletext is actually digital, and on Analogue modulated onto blank picture lines and on Digital carried separate to picture in its own stream. The problem is there are many quite different text systems for Digital TV:

1. Teletext
2. DVB-EIT for program information text (Now & Next and EPG)
3. DVB Subtitles delivered to TV via VBI (Teletext 888) or overlay
4. Proprietary EPG
5. OpenTV, MHP, MHEG5, MediaHighway, Ginga: All Middleware

The advantage of "middleware" is that unlike the other systems such as Teletext, DVB Subtitles and DVB-EIT you are not limited at specification time. Think of the first four items as built in Phone Applications you can get on a Dumb phone. Middleware is like Mobile Java, iOS apps on iPhone, Andriod Apps (a form of java) and such on Feature phones and Smart phones. Actually MHP applications are Java based. So with "Middleware" the TV or setbox doesn't have the "Interactive Text" built in. It's an application loaded over the air and cached locally. If the application has changed while TV is off, then if you go to "text" immediately there is a longer delay while the slower stream with application is stored locally.

Mike 1972

Strictly speaking of course there is no such thing as analouge teletext (unless one counts that ITV nightscreen rubbish)

icdg wrote: »

Since then Teletext have been broadcasting on analogue without a licence, in breach of UK law. They've been fined by Ofcom for this.

A pirate teletext service -Interesting concept :cool:

icdg

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Strictly speaking of course there is no such thing as analouge teletext (unless one counts that ITV nightscreen rubbish)

Even that hasn't looked like teletext since the mid-1990s or so. Last time I saw it, it looked like a PowerPoint presentation, although I believe it is generated by something called Scala instead.

I meant to mention. The pages between 600-699 on ITV and 400-499 on Channel 4 are actually licenced to the broadcaster themselves rather than Teletext Limited, in order for them to provide programme-related information. This may be why Teletext Limited is still able to broadcast the racing coverage on P470. (I also note that P100 now says "Channel 4 (Sky)" on it which seems to indicate that the feed for Channel 4 is now being sourced from satellite rather than analogue terrestrial). This used to be the old 4-Tel service but Channel 4 contracted the running to Teletext Limited many years ago, so it just appeared as part of Teletext.

Not sure if UTV's service (UTV Plus) is still going, no teletext at all appears to be carried now on the version of UTV on analogue UPC in Dublin. Wouldn't surprise me if (a) it is still going in some shape or form (b) hasn't been updated in years and (c) still has the 1993 UTV logo on it rather than the 2000 version!

Mike 1972

Had a quick look (Analouge channels)

BBC: Ceefax seems to be alive and well
UTV: No sign of UTV's own teletext service "Teletext Holidays" has a handful of pages most of them with messages such as "This page has moved to p.XXX but when I switch to p.XXX theres nothing there.
Channel 4: No sign of any teletext (or 4tel)
Channel 5: Think theres something there but reception unusually grainy tonight so cant say for sure.

Digifriendly

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Had a quick look (Analouge channels)

BBC: Ceefax seems to be alive and well
UTV: No sign of UTV's own teletext service "Teletext Holidays" has a handful of pages most of them with messages such as "This page has moved to p.XXX but when I switch to p.XXX theres nothing there.
Channel 4: No sign of any teletext (or 4tel)
Channel 5: Think theres something there but reception unusually grainy tonight so cant say for sure.

Channel 5 has a few pages (Pg 501 onwards) with TV listings for same day and next day and some transmitting information but little else.