Popular teletext service Ceefax switched off after almost four decades

The BBC’s Ceefax was switched off on Tuesday night as the era of the internet booms...

17:10 24 October 2012

The retro teletext service Ceefax, provided by the BBC, used to update people before the explosion of the internet, but now it has vanished from people’s TV screens for good as of Tuesdaynight. Its final show marked the end of an era, and also nods to the beginning of another.

 

Originally being launched in 1974, Ceefax withstood the test of time for 38 years before admitting defeat. It was Dame Mary Peters, an Olympic champion, who pressed the switch-off button for the analogue signal in Northern Ireland.

 

This comes as the UK is switching over from analogue to digital broadcasting. Digital TV lends itself more readily to the general public as it can carry more information.

 

Ceefax, much loved by many Brits, used to provide free news and sports updates, as well as weather forecasts and also cinema showings. But the service became dated with its famed block graphics.

 

Figures state that in the 1990s Ceefax peaked with 20million users accessing it at least one a week.

 

According to reports, former Prime Minister Sir John Major said Ceefax would be “much missed”.

 

With the popularity of smartphones and the instant access people can have to information via the internet, there seemed to no place left for Ceefax.