Teletext

Associated With

BBC - creator or operator

Defining Feature

Viewer-selected pages of text information displayed through a television set

Status

Discontinued - Ceefax's final broadcast accompanied the UK analogue-to-digital television changeover in 2012

Overview

Ceefax placed pages of news, weather, sport and other information inside an ordinary television signal.

BBC work on the system began in 1972, and regular service started on 23 September 1974. Viewers entered a page number with the remote to read the information they wanted.

Familiar page numbers became shortcuts to headlines and sports results, while subtitles arrived in 1979. Ceefax remained on air until the 2012 change from analogue television transmission to digital service.

Why It Mattered

It offered an on-demand information service years before websites and mobile apps made that expectation routine. Its severe technical limits also created a distinctive form of writing, forcing reports, scores and headlines into compact blocks of television text.

Ceefax Service Launch

• BBC work on the teletext system began in 1972.
• Regular Ceefax service began on 23 September 1974.
• The service let viewers select additional news and information on their television screens.

Numbered Pages and Reporting Limits

• Page 300 served as a sport starting point, with separate pages for headlines, football, cricket and rugby.
• Sports reports were limited to four paragraphs and 80 words, with 33-character headlines.

Subtitles and Final Broadcast

• Ceefax began carrying subtitles in 1979.
• The service remained on air for 38 years.
• Its final broadcast came in 2012 as analogue television transmission gave way to digital service.

Gallery