The BBC is to remove the text elements of its Red Button service, 45 years after the original Ceefax made its debut.
Ceefax ceased its service of news, sport and entertainment when analogue signals were switched off in 2012. However, the Red Button text service continued alongside video content, such as additional tennis coverage from Wimbledon and live stages from Glastonbury.
A BBC spokesperson said: From early 2020, viewers will no longer be able to access text-based BBC News and BBC Sport content by pressing red.
“It’s always a difficult decision to reduce services, and we don’t take decisions like this lightly, but we have taken it because we have to balance the resources needed to maintain and develop this service with the need to update our systems to give people even better internet-based services.”
Broadband TV Views: This is a tricky one for the BBC, it’s information is available online and through digital TV services such as the BBC News Channel. The text based information, particularly when viewed on the Sky Q box, simply doesn’t look as rich as it does within, for example, the BBC Sport app.
