Ceefax

Ceefax
Pages from Ceefax title card
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Production company	BBC
Original release
Network	BBC analogue (via "Text" button) BBC One (1980–1997) BBC Two (1980–2012)
Release	23 September 1974 (1974-09-23) – 23 October 2012 (2012-10-23)
Related
Oracle (1978–1992) Teletext Ltd. (1993–2010)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

BBC
UK-wide Television stations programmes Radio stations local BBC Online BBC Red Button Ceefax iPlayer BBC Sounds
Management Chairman Samir Shah Director-General Tim Davie BBC Board BBC Charter
Departments BBC Academy Archives BBC Film BBC World Service (Timeline) Television Design & Engineering Monitoring News Radio Sport Weather
Nations and regions BBC Cymru Wales BBC Scotland BBC Northern Ireland BBC English Regions Birmingham Bristol East East Midlands London Manchester North East & Cumbria North West South South East South West West West Midlands Yorkshire Yorkshire & Lincolnshire
Commercial subsidiaries BBC Studios BBC Studios Productions BBC Studioworks BBC Worldwide
History Archives Sound Archive BBC Trust Board of Governors British Broadcasting Company Coat of arms Controversies Criticism First day of TV Logo Radio Times Genome Timeline HD timeline
Key properties in London Broadcasting House Lime Grove (former) Maida Vale Studios Television Centre (former) White City & Media Village
Birmingham Drama Village Mailbox Birmingham Pebble Mill Studios (former)
Cardiff New Broadcasting House, Cardiff Broadcasting House (former) Drama Village (Roath Lock) BBC Hoddinott Hall
Other locations Broadcasting House, Belfast Broadcasting House, Bristol BBC Elstree Centre MediaCityUK, Salford Pacific Quay, Glasgow
v t e

Ceefax (/ˈsiːfæks/, punning on "see facts")^[1] 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 (11:32 PM BST) on 23 October 2012, in line with the digital switchover being completed in Northern Ireland.^[2][3][4]

To receive a desired page of text on a teletext-capable receiver, the user would enter a three-digit page number on the device. Once the page number was entered, the selected page would display on the user's screen upon its actual transmission, which would have required a wait of several seconds. There were many pages to choose from and they could be displayed either on a black background or superimposed over the broadcast programme picture. This latter feature made it technically possible for the first time for British broadcasters to transmit subtitles which could be turned on or off by the viewer, rather than as part of the broadcast image.^[5]