PP
I’ll definitely miss the red button channels, even though I hate sports and get the news delivered straight to my devices. 
CA
The channels are staying.
With the removal of Red Button and therefore the secret menu, will we return to the annual hour of engineering work overnight on BBC One?
I’ll definitely miss the red button channels, even though I hate sports and get the news delivered straight to my devices.
The channels are staying.
With the removal of Red Button and therefore the secret menu, will we return to the annual hour of engineering work overnight on BBC One?
AB
Was it implemented in UK consumer TVs at that time?
I think a friend from school had one in the late 80s; a Ferguson set with non-standard colours for its Fasttext buttons and on-screen links (from the extended colour palette). The set also had A2 stereo, which was never implemented in the UK, so it only ever worked in mono.
You can see some examples of that here, the BBC did use Level 2 for Pages From Ceefax at one point:
http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/in-vision.shtml
http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/in-vision.shtml
Was it implemented in UK consumer TVs at that time?
I think a friend from school had one in the late 80s; a Ferguson set with non-standard colours for its Fasttext buttons and on-screen links (from the extended colour palette). The set also had A2 stereo, which was never implemented in the UK, so it only ever worked in mono.
KE
I'm showing my age here, but in the days before smart phones, ipads, tablets, etc. and going back even further, the internet, it was seen as a vital service, and I expect it was regularly used by a large proportion of people who had access to it (bearing in mind not all TVs supported teletext services).
There will be people now who have grown up in the internet age, who have probably never even used it, which will be a reason for decline in use, and therefore closure, which has been happening over recent years with the closure of teletext services by most (if not all) other broadcasters in the UK.
I've never used it or saw the point of it tbh.
I'm showing my age here, but in the days before smart phones, ipads, tablets, etc. and going back even further, the internet, it was seen as a vital service, and I expect it was regularly used by a large proportion of people who had access to it (bearing in mind not all TVs supported teletext services).
There will be people now who have grown up in the internet age, who have probably never even used it, which will be a reason for decline in use, and therefore closure, which has been happening over recent years with the closure of teletext services by most (if not all) other broadcasters in the UK.
:-(
A former member
I've never used it or saw the point of it tbh.
That is a rather ignorant point of view.
SP
The channels are staying.
With the removal of Red Button and therefore the secret menu, will we return to the annual hour of engineering work overnight on BBC One?
Short version : No.
Slightly Longer version: No, but the test card does make an appearance in the BBC Two off-air barker.
Long version: No, the test card in the Red Button service is just an Easter Egg and is too compressed to be useful for much. The overnight tests were discontinued because the backup system they were testing no long applies to digital TV. The two are not linked.
I’ll definitely miss the red button channels, even though I hate sports and get the news delivered straight to my devices.
The channels are staying.
With the removal of Red Button and therefore the secret menu, will we return to the annual hour of engineering work overnight on BBC One?
Short version : No.
Slightly Longer version: No, but the test card does make an appearance in the BBC Two off-air barker.
Long version: No, the test card in the Red Button service is just an Easter Egg and is too compressed to be useful for much. The overnight tests were discontinued because the backup system they were testing no long applies to digital TV. The two are not linked.
DK
the Glasgow subtitling unit was sold off as part of BBC Broadcast, became Red Bee Media, and is now in an office round the corner from Pacific Quay.
Used to work in the same building, always had interesting chats to the guys at Red Bee.
(originally they had "BBC Scotland 19xx" on them, and now the remade files have Red Bee Media).
the Glasgow subtitling unit was sold off as part of BBC Broadcast, became Red Bee Media, and is now in an office round the corner from Pacific Quay.
Used to work in the same building, always had interesting chats to the guys at Red Bee.
IT
I'm showing my age here, but in the days before smart phones, ipads, tablets, etc. and going back even further, the internet, it was seen as a vital service, and I expect it was regularly used by a large proportion of people who had access to it (bearing in mind not all TVs supported teletext services).
There will be people now who have grown up in the internet age, who have probably never even used it, which will be a reason for decline in use, and therefore closure, which has been happening over recent years with the closure of teletext services by most (if not all) other broadcasters in the UK.
Ceefax/Teletext was indeed vital and very widely used back then. I can recall the first thing my Dad would do in the morning was to see what the news/sport headlines were. And guess what, he still does it with the Red Button digital text. He's very disappointed that it's being closed. I still use it occasionally - sometimes if I've just caught the tail end of a news story, I'll pop it on to see if I can find more information about it. Whether I would be bothered to go and grab my phone or iPad is another matter. It's been convenient because you can access it straight from the TV you're already watching.
itsrobert
Founding member
I've never used it or saw the point of it tbh.
I'm showing my age here, but in the days before smart phones, ipads, tablets, etc. and going back even further, the internet, it was seen as a vital service, and I expect it was regularly used by a large proportion of people who had access to it (bearing in mind not all TVs supported teletext services).
There will be people now who have grown up in the internet age, who have probably never even used it, which will be a reason for decline in use, and therefore closure, which has been happening over recent years with the closure of teletext services by most (if not all) other broadcasters in the UK.
Ceefax/Teletext was indeed vital and very widely used back then. I can recall the first thing my Dad would do in the morning was to see what the news/sport headlines were. And guess what, he still does it with the Red Button digital text. He's very disappointed that it's being closed. I still use it occasionally - sometimes if I've just caught the tail end of a news story, I'll pop it on to see if I can find more information about it. Whether I would be bothered to go and grab my phone or iPad is another matter. It's been convenient because you can access it straight from the TV you're already watching.