Timeline of teletext in the UK

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This is a timeline of the history of teletext on television in the UK. .

Contents

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

See also

Related Research Articles

BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to close on 30 January 2020, but the switch off was suspended on 29 January 2020 following protests.

<i>Ceefax</i> Teletext information service operated by the BBC

Ceefax was the world's first teletext information service and a forerunner to the current BBC Red Button service. Ceefax was started by the BBC in 1974 and ended, after 38 years of broadcasting, at 23:32:19 BST on 23 October 2012, in line with the digital switchover completion in Northern Ireland.

Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.

The term telesoftware was coined by W.J.G. Overington who invented the concept in 1974; it literally means “software at a distance” and it often refers to the transmission of programs for a microprocessor or home computer via broadcast teletext, though the use of teletext was just a convenient way to implement the invention, which had been invented as a theoretical broadcasting concept previously. The concept being of producing local interactivity without the need for a return information link to a central computer. The invention arose as spin-off from research on function generators for a hybrid computer system for use in simulation of heat transfer in food preservation, and thus from outside of the broadcasting research establishments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ORACLE (teletext)</span> British teletext system

ORACLE was a commercial teletext service first broadcast on the ITV network in 1978 and later additionally on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1982. The service ceased on both channels at 23:59 UTC on 31 December 1992, when it was replaced by Teletext Ltd.

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Teletext Ltd was the provider of teletext and digital interactive services for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 in the United Kingdom.

Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available. Freeview is the only DTT service since Top Up TV closed in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teletext</span> Television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s

Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipped television sets. Teletext sends data in the broadcast signal, hidden in the invisible vertical blanking interval area at the top and bottom of the screen. The teletext decoder in the television buffers this information as a series of "pages", each given a number. The user can display chosen pages using their remote control. In broad terms, it can be considered as Videotex, a system for the delivery of information to a user in a computer-like format, typically displayed on a television or a dumb terminal, but that designation is usually reserved for systems that provide bi-directional communication, such as Prestel or Minitel.

ITV Nightscreen was a scheduled programme on the ITV television network that was broadcast from 1998 to 2021. It consisted of a sequence of animated pages of information about ITV's upcoming programmes, features and special events, with easy listening music in the background. The programme was used to fill the station's overnight downtime, where a closedown would have once been used at the end of programmes. The programme was generally shown seven days a week with the typical weekday show airing from 4:05 am to 5:05 am daily. However, on ITV's digital channels, the amount of Teleshopping affects how much Nightscreen is broadcast. The programme was also broadcast on all of ITV's +1 channels.

This is a list of British television-related events from 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storeton transmitting station</span> Radio and TV transmission site in England

Storeton transmitting station is a television transmitter being a member of both the Winter Hill group of transmitters and of the Moel-y-Parc group of transmitter, and an FM radio transmitter, with transmitting antennas affixed to a mast located on Storeton Ridge, Higher Bebington, Wirral, UK. The site is owned and operated by Arqiva. It was originally solely an analogue TV relay of the Winter Hill transmitter. The 45 metre-high (150 ft-high) mast is situated at an elevation of 65.5 metres (215 ft). Thus, the top of the mast has an overall height of 110.5 metres (363 ft) above sea level. Construction of the mast was completed in 1980. As of 2009, the TV transmitter serves approximately 45,000 homes.

BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges or BBC Education, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC1 during the daytime, apart from coverage of major news events which saw the programmes shifted to BBC2. In September 1983, programming was transferred permanently to BBC2 freeing BBC1 to develop its own daytime schedule. The strand, named Daytime on Two, remained on BBC Two until March 2010, later supplemented by the 'Class TV' strand on CBBC.

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In the United Kingdom, television closedowns originally took place frequently during the daytime, and sometimes for a few hours at a time. This was due initially to Government-imposed restrictions on daytime broadcasting hours, and later, budgetary constrictions. The eventual relaxation of these rules meant that afternoon closedowns ceased permanently on the ITV network in October 1972. The BBC took a long time to abandon the practice, and did not commence a full daytime service until the autumn of 1986.

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This is a timeline of the history of on-air broadcasts of teletext on television in the UK.

This is a timeline of overnight television broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It focuses on programming between midnight and 6am and includes details of when channels began into the night and 24-hour broadcasting.

References

  1. IBA Engineering Announcements - May 17th 1983
  2. On This Day in History 12th March 2021
  3. The History of Pages from Ceefax
  4. BBC Genome Project – BBC1 listings 21 March 1983
  5. sub-TV (13 July 2018). "Channel Four 20th November 1986 - 4-Tel On View, ORACLE On View and ETP-1". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. Rewind.thetvroom.com - On This Day in History 2 May 2021
  7. The History of Pages from Ceefax
  8. "BBC Two England – 7 January 1984 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  9. IBA Engineering Announcements - 24 September 1985 ‘Oracle Teletext Page Reshuffle
  10. Central Continuity and Adverts + closedown 31 March 1986
  11. BBC Genome Blog 27 October 2016
  12. "Oracle". TV Cream. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  13. The History of Pages from Ceefax
  14. BBC1 startup 16 Nov 1992
  15. The History of Pages from Ceefax
  16. https://www.newspapers.com/search/?query=pages%20from%20Ceefax&p_province=gb-sct&dr_year=1997-1997&sort=paper-date-asc
  17. "Channel 5". Andrew Wiseman's Television Room. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. TV Whirl” Channel 5 Teletext
  19. Chris Tryhorn (13 November 2007). "Whitehaven analogue TV switch-off nears". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  20. "Selkirk group next for switchover". Digital Spy . 29 October 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  21. "Sbectel Service". S4C. 2009-06-03.
  22. "About Teletext". Teletext Holidays.
  23. "Ofcom imposes £225,000 fine on Teletext Limited". Ofcom. 2010-05-27. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010.
  24. JX866 Mashups (28 November 2012). "The final Pages From Ceefax in full, 22 October 2012, BBC Two" via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. Pete Clifton Points of View 9 November 2008
  26. Test Cards and Ceefax BBC Archive
  27. "Ceefax: A love letter". BBC. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.