Ceefax ready for final switch-off
Ceefax, the BBC's teletext service, is given a lifetime
achievement award by the Plain English Campaign to mark its last day on
air after 38 years.
23 October 2012
Last updated at 11:40 GMT
The Plain English Campaign announced a lifetime achievement award for Ceefax's "clarity" and use of "everyday words".
And ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major said Ceefax would be "much missed".
Sir John, who has previously revealed that he regularly checked Ceefax pages between Downing Street meetings to keep up to date with cricket scores, said: "Ceefax will be much missed. At moments of high pressure - with little time for detailed examination of the news - Ceefax headlines offered an instant window on the world.
"From breaking global news to domestic sports news, Ceefax was speedy, accurate and indispensable. It can be proud of its record."
Ceefax was launched on 23 September 1974 to give BBC viewers the chance to check the latest news headlines, sports scores, weather forecast or TV listings - in a pre-internet era where the only alternative was to wait for the next TV or radio bulletin to be aired.
Its premise was to give viewers free access to the same information that was coming into the BBC newsroom, as soon as the BBC's journalists had received it.
Ceefax had initially been developed when BBC engineers, exploring ways to provide subtitles to enable viewers with hearing problems to enjoy BBC TV programmes, found it was possible to transmit full pages of text information in the "spare lines" transmitted on the analogue TV signal.
The BBC then appointed veteran journalist Colin McIntyre, its former UN correspondent and chief publicity officer, as the first editor of a news and information service which was broadcast using the same method.
It was called Ceefax, simply because viewers would be able to quickly "see the facts" of any story of the day.
McIntyre initially updated 24 news pages on his own, feeding punch tape into machines, before recruiting Ceefax's first eight journalists.
Initially the service was a minority interest, with just a handful of Ceefax-capable TVs in the UK, but it slowly started to gain popularity and the engineering team that developed the service was honoured with a Queen's Award for innovation.
Its audience peaked in the 1990s when it had 20 million viewers who checked the service at least once a week. Since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994, dozens of jackpot winners have revealed that they first learned their life had been changed when they checked their numbers on Ceefax.
But the launch of the UK's TV digital signal, and the announcement that the analogue TV signal would disappear in a staged switch-off over five years, meant a slow withdrawal of Ceefax, ending with the final broadcast in Northern Ireland.
BBC Northern Ireland and UTV are to screen a simulcast reviewing the era of analogue TV, and then Dame Mary Peters - 1972 Olympic gold medallist in the pentathlon - will press the button to change the television landscape.
Viewers who check Ceefax during the evening will see a special graphics countdown on page 100.
And weather presenters on the BBC during the day will pay their
own tribute by incorporating Ceefax's Legoblock-style maps into their
forecasts.
Ceefax's commitment to getting information to viewers as quickly and clearly as possible has been marked by the lifetime achievement award from the Plain English Campaign, the pressure group that calls for the use of concise and clear language in all public communication.
Founder Chrissie Maher said: "Ceefax helped everyday people with everyday words and I will be giving it a Chrissie Maher Award for its 30 years of commitment to using plain English. It was my first port of call."
She added: "It helped the public keep in touch with world affairs and everyday information with its crystal-clear communications. I will miss its clarity."
Steve Herrmann, editor of the BBC News website, said in response: "Throughout its distinguished years of service to audiences, Ceefax has always aimed to provide news which is clear, concise and simply expressed.
The technology has changed over the years and Ceefax is now produced at New Broadcasting House
"It is an honour for us to receive this lifetime achievement
award, and it stands as a tribute to all the journalists who have worked
on the service over the years, and the care they have taken in writing
every story."
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: "Ceefax revolutionised the way in which the public accessed information. Its peak audience of 20 million viewers is testament to the regard in which it was held - its cessation a reminder of how quickly technology is now progressing."
Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader and shadow culture secretary, said: "Ceefax is a great national institution, and it's sad to bid goodbye to a service which gave so many access to news, sport, TV listings and much else besides.
"But with the end of one era comes the start of another as the digital switchover is completed - people can access more channels, and interactive services which are the successors of Ceefax."
Ceefax service to end after 38 years on BBC
Highlights of final pages from Ceefax
BBC Ceefax, the world's first teletext service, is set for a final bow as the UK's digital switchover is completed.
Olympic champion Dame Mary Peters will turn off the last
analogue TV signal in Northern Ireland at 23.30 BST. A series of
graphics on Ceefax's front page will mark its 38 years on the BBC.The Plain English Campaign announced a lifetime achievement award for Ceefax's "clarity" and use of "everyday words".
And ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major said Ceefax would be "much missed".
Sir John, who has previously revealed that he regularly checked Ceefax pages between Downing Street meetings to keep up to date with cricket scores, said: "Ceefax will be much missed. At moments of high pressure - with little time for detailed examination of the news - Ceefax headlines offered an instant window on the world.
"From breaking global news to domestic sports news, Ceefax was speedy, accurate and indispensable. It can be proud of its record."
Continue reading the main story
Ceefax in the news
- In 2001, Roy Essandoh (above) became an FA Cup hero thanks to Ceefax. He read a plea from injury-hit Wycombe for players and got the winner in a quarter-final tie against Leicester
- Bruce Rioch found out he had been sacked as QPR assistant manager when he read it on Ceefax
- In 1999, Glenn Hoddle's daughter Zara wrote to Ceefax to back her father when his job as England manager hung in the balance
- Early in his TV career, Gary Lineker said viewers would have been better off watching the first half of a Wimbledon match on Ceefax
- In 1994, a newsflash was briefly broadcast on Ceefax during a rehearsal saying the Queen Mother had died. The BBC apologised to her.
A few weeks after Ceefax provided
comprehensive around-the-clock coverage of its 10th and final Olympic
Games, Lord Coe added his own tribute by saying: "Ceefax has been an
invaluable news service for every sports fan over the last 38 years.
"I have checked in on many a sports news story, track and field triumph and, of course, Chelsea results!"Ceefax was launched on 23 September 1974 to give BBC viewers the chance to check the latest news headlines, sports scores, weather forecast or TV listings - in a pre-internet era where the only alternative was to wait for the next TV or radio bulletin to be aired.
Its premise was to give viewers free access to the same information that was coming into the BBC newsroom, as soon as the BBC's journalists had received it.
Ceefax had initially been developed when BBC engineers, exploring ways to provide subtitles to enable viewers with hearing problems to enjoy BBC TV programmes, found it was possible to transmit full pages of text information in the "spare lines" transmitted on the analogue TV signal.
The BBC then appointed veteran journalist Colin McIntyre, its former UN correspondent and chief publicity officer, as the first editor of a news and information service which was broadcast using the same method.
It was called Ceefax, simply because viewers would be able to quickly "see the facts" of any story of the day.
McIntyre initially updated 24 news pages on his own, feeding punch tape into machines, before recruiting Ceefax's first eight journalists.
Initially the service was a minority interest, with just a handful of Ceefax-capable TVs in the UK, but it slowly started to gain popularity and the engineering team that developed the service was honoured with a Queen's Award for innovation.
Continue reading the main story
Ceefax journalists would monitor incoming wire copy and when a story was to be updated they would type at one of two production terminals and create a Ceefax page.
Then, they had to produce a punched tape - approximately a yard long - and take it down two flights of stairs to the Central Apparatus Room, load it into a tape reader and watch as it was read into an anonymous metal box called a core store which actually transmitted the pages.
A walk back up to the sixth floor followed and if, at that point, it was discovered that a spelling mistake had been made, the journalist had to go through the whole process again.
It ensured close attention to detail when writing!
At the very start
The early days of the service proved anything but hi-tech.Ceefax journalists would monitor incoming wire copy and when a story was to be updated they would type at one of two production terminals and create a Ceefax page.
Then, they had to produce a punched tape - approximately a yard long - and take it down two flights of stairs to the Central Apparatus Room, load it into a tape reader and watch as it was read into an anonymous metal box called a core store which actually transmitted the pages.
A walk back up to the sixth floor followed and if, at that point, it was discovered that a spelling mistake had been made, the journalist had to go through the whole process again.
It ensured close attention to detail when writing!
But the real impetus for viewers
came when BBC Television decided to use a selection of Ceefax pages,
accompanied by music, before the start of programming each day.
Initially called Ceefax AM and Ceefax In Vision, the Pages From Ceefax
"programme" continued for 30 years, being broadcast overnight on BBC Two
until this week.
As viewers got a small taste of what Ceefax had to offer,
millions of Britons during the 1980s invested in new teletext-enabled TV
sets which gave them access to the full Ceefax service, which by now
included recipe details for dishes prepared on BBC cookery shows, share
prices, music reviews and an annual advent calendar.Its audience peaked in the 1990s when it had 20 million viewers who checked the service at least once a week. Since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994, dozens of jackpot winners have revealed that they first learned their life had been changed when they checked their numbers on Ceefax.
But the launch of the UK's TV digital signal, and the announcement that the analogue TV signal would disappear in a staged switch-off over five years, meant a slow withdrawal of Ceefax, ending with the final broadcast in Northern Ireland.
BBC Northern Ireland and UTV are to screen a simulcast reviewing the era of analogue TV, and then Dame Mary Peters - 1972 Olympic gold medallist in the pentathlon - will press the button to change the television landscape.
Viewers who check Ceefax during the evening will see a special graphics countdown on page 100.
The BBC's Points of View programme looks back at Ceefax's 38 years on air
Ceefax's commitment to getting information to viewers as quickly and clearly as possible has been marked by the lifetime achievement award from the Plain English Campaign, the pressure group that calls for the use of concise and clear language in all public communication.
Founder Chrissie Maher said: "Ceefax helped everyday people with everyday words and I will be giving it a Chrissie Maher Award for its 30 years of commitment to using plain English. It was my first port of call."
She added: "It helped the public keep in touch with world affairs and everyday information with its crystal-clear communications. I will miss its clarity."
Steve Herrmann, editor of the BBC News website, said in response: "Throughout its distinguished years of service to audiences, Ceefax has always aimed to provide news which is clear, concise and simply expressed.
The technology has changed over the years and Ceefax is now produced at New Broadcasting House
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: "Ceefax revolutionised the way in which the public accessed information. Its peak audience of 20 million viewers is testament to the regard in which it was held - its cessation a reminder of how quickly technology is now progressing."
Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader and shadow culture secretary, said: "Ceefax is a great national institution, and it's sad to bid goodbye to a service which gave so many access to news, sport, TV listings and much else besides.
"But with the end of one era comes the start of another as the digital switchover is completed - people can access more channels, and interactive services which are the successors of Ceefax."
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