RTE seeking to close Aertel

icdg

Report in today's Sunday Times (behind paywall) that RTE is seeking the removal of its obligation under the Broadcasting Act 2009 to run a teletext service. Presumably once the obligation was removed Aertel would be closed.

The article slightly inaccurately reports about Aertel Digital, which is only on Saorview and some Virgin Media STBs (Mediabox not Horizon), and isn't actually a teletext service as such. In fact the old Aertel teletext service also still exists and is available on Virgin Media analogue and Sky (only if connected via SCART).

Avatar MIA

Aertel used to be a great resource, but haven't tried using it in ages.

Some elderly may still use it, but it would take a significant resource to maintain to levels it used to be - and not worth it if only used by a very small contingent. Sad, but I'd not be against it's removal.

Deagol

I use aertel everyday as it's such a simple system it loads very quickly on my phone etc. Would be sad to see it go

aphex™

Doesn't it mostly just pull stuff down from the website via RSS? Probably one or two staff editing some of the links and banners where needed.

I can think of better ways to save money. Lob 200k off Marian Finnucane's wages would be a good start.

Avatar MIA

aphex™ wrote: »

Doesn't it mostly just pull stuff down from the website via RSS? Probably one or two staff editing some of the links and banners where needed.

I can think of better ways to save money. Lob 200k off Marian Finnucane's wages would be a good start.

Definitely wouldn't disagree with that. If it's just RSS feeds then it shouldn't be an issue. It was a major service when it used to be a stand alone.

icdg

Oddly enough the existence of Aertel Digital (which strictly speaking isn't a teletext service) probably makes closing both services harder, as if only the WST service existed, RTE could make the argument that hardly anyone could use it any more and that when Virgin Media eventually closes analogue (and at this stage I think it probably won't last till 2020) that there'll be pretty much no one able to recieve it.

However I think even the MHEG-5 service has had its day - all the services of that type which originally existed on Sky are nearly all gone, with the BBC service (no longer avialable in Ireland since August) pretty much the last one left). Mobile internet pretty much renders it obselete with most people using the Sky Sports app or something similar to check football scores for instance.

Delta2113

Close it - we are so slow in this Country on everything.

SPDUB

aphex™ wrote: »

Doesn't it mostly just pull stuff down from the website via RSS? Probably one or two staff editing some of the links and banners where needed.

.

They don't even bother editing it some of the time.

This news explains the two outages this week ( it never updated last Sunday and IIRC most of Wednesday ) presumably to see if any complaints

The Cush

icdg wrote: »

However I think even the MHEG-5 service has had its day - all the services of that type which originally existed on Sky are nearly all gone, with the BBC service (no longer avialable in Ireland since August) pretty much the last one left). Mobile internet pretty much renders it obselete with most people using the Sky Sports app or something similar to check football scores for instance.

The future is HbbTV via Saorview Connect, the BBC are also moving away from MHEG in the years ahead. I very rarely use Aertel these days, first port of call now is the internet via phone/tablet etc., HbbTV enabled TVs and STBs is the next step that'll combine both.

Kensington

The whole thing is automated anyway.

RTÉ have a central CMS system which everything gets entered into.

The CMS publishes everything out in XML format and each of the various platforms pull in the XML feeds and apply pre-determined templates to create the individual pages that make up that given platform.

Probably the biggest cost to RTÉ for Aertel is the cost of the bandwidth on the two Saorview muxes for the MHEG carousel.

dublinman1990

I've used Aertel for a very long time as it was very useful in the early days to have a service which didn't require an internet connection to use it.

I currently use it sometimes to check for Weather updates now before I leave the house to see if the weather would deteriorate during the day.

I will be sad when it's gone from our screens if & when RTE decides to close it down for good though.

Antenna

icdg wrote: »

as if only the WST service existed, RTE could make the argument that hardly anyone could use it any more

Saorview approved STBs and TVs are supposed to be all able to receive WST - if that was there in the absence of MHEG teletext service (as they do with the pointless text on TV3, TG4) , terrestrial viewers on RTE would still be receiving it if that were the case. Non saorview products generally can also, the only exception being MPEG4 Freeview HD receivers used in Ireland.

The situation with Sky boxes is awkward, why they couldn't have built-in WST text decoding is beyond me, probably someone being awkward

byte

Antenna wrote: »

The situation with Sky boxes is awkward, why they couldn't have built-in WST text decoding is beyond me, probably someone being awkward

Yeah, that has mystified me. The whole "Press TV, then Text" info banner was unnecessary and I don't know of any other DVB satellite receiver that can't handle teletext itself. Maybe it was to try help push their "digital text" though that was always inferior to good ol' WST.

No odds anymore I guess with HbbTV going to be the way forward.

The Cush

RTÉ Archives - RTÉ News report broadcast on 28 September 1989.

http://www.rte.ie/archives/2014/0926/648270-teletext-conference/

Experts from 20 European countries met in Kilkenny in 1989 to discuss the future of Teletext services. The conference was hosted by RTÉ at Butler’s Castle.

RTÉ began transmitting Aertel, a teletext news and information service, on 22 June 1987.

Hyland x

Wasn't having aertel one of the main selling points of buying a saorview "approved" tv/box ?

learn_more

Delta2113 wrote: »

Close it - we are so slow in this Country on everything.

That's a bit OTT.

I don't use those services but I know my mum uses it. I've also seen her get news from the BBC red button services. Are the BBC behind the times as well?

Avatar MIA

learn_more wrote: »

Are the BBC behind the times as well?

The BBC got rid of Ceefax (the equivalent of Aertel) back in 2012.

mikeym

Aertel is so old school.

We have the internet now which has tonnes of information from all types of sources and Rte have a dedicated news channel on all platforms.

learn_more

Avatar MIA wrote: »

The BBC got rid of Ceefax (the equivalent of Aertel) back in 2012.

That was a simple transition from analogue to digital.

That has noting to do with stopping broadcasting data over the tv airwaves that you can watch on your telly.

Ceefax transitioned to the digital platform, somthing that is a bit more visually rich on the digital frequency.

The BBC never drooped that concept. Ceefax died when the analogue system was turned off.

icdg

I think in the context of that it's worth noting something.

RTE uses the name "Aertel" to refer to both the WST service and the interactive application.

The BBC however decided to distinguish. Only the WST service was known as Ceefax. The interactive application has been known by a variety of names - most recently BBC Red Button.

The BBC interactive service is still going, but access to it was removed for ROI viewers in July due to sports rights reasons and never reinstated. However in any case it's become a sort of "last of its kind" - similar services from Sky and Teletext Limited (remember them???) died a death a good few years ago.

Elmo

RTE News Now could use the interactive more than Aertel. I expect that like many of the proposals sent to the Minister he will wait and wait and wait.

I assume this comes under a significant change to the schedule no?

icdg

No, as I understand the concern is that s114(1)(b) of the 2009 Act obliges RTE to provide a teletext service. If this is the case it would require primary legislation to repeal the obligation.

Hotblack Desiato

icdg wrote: »

The BBC interactive service is still going, but access to it was removed for ROI viewers in July

Only for those using pay services to access FTA TV...

icdg

Yes, but the satellite version only works on a proprietary Sky or equally proprietary Freesat receiver, the latter of which isn't (Maplin notwithstanding) officially available in ROI retail outlets. It won't work on a generic free to air box as they don't have the middleware needed to run it.

As for the terrestrial version most of the country are too far from a transmitter to recieve it.

Lt Dan

Ah, long before the internet really kicked off in many homes , use to spend the odd hour at night before bed , nosing around the sports pages of Aertel, looking at Club fixtures of counties that I would be familiar with, looking at the AIL (Rugby league) and even the English Premiership which use to highlight a goalscorer in green if he was an Irish International. It was great for updates in the general and local elections too. It was a great service, alas RTE website was / is pretty good so kinda made aertel a bit redundant with the better availability of broadband and smart phones. It was like the RTE Guide (my granny had a great archive of them) , irreplaceable on its day, but, for many life would go on without them

lertsnim

icdg wrote: »

Yes, but the satellite version only works on a proprietary Sky or equally proprietary Freesat receiver, the latter of which isn't (Maplin notwithstanding) officially available in ROI retail outlets. It won't work on a generic free to air box as they don't have the middleware needed to run it.

As for the terrestrial version most of the country are too far from a transmitter to recieve it.

Lots of people using Sky boxes for FTA.

icdg

I believe that was the OPs complaint....

Fian

Would actually be sorry to see this go. The "whats on now" page at page 180 is handy, I use it regularly to decide what to watch instead of scanning through the channels.

The Parish priest

They haven't updated it at all today, must be a test to see will they get complaints

Stasi 2.0

icdg wrote: »

No, as I understand the concern is that s114(1)(b) of the 2009 Act obliges RTE to provide a teletext service. If this is the case it would require primary legislation to repeal the obligation.

This is why writing such things into primary legislation is often not such a great idea.