Date   : Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:09:51 +0200
From   : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: Fw: Fwd: ITV Teletext to shut down in January

Mick Champion wrote:


Hey Mick! I'm sitting in the garden with the eeeeee as the sun is 
setting. Wish you were here? :-)



> I'm assuming subtitles will remain?

Subtitling is available as part of the DVB information, on any *decent* 
digital receiver you will find controls for subtitling, and for those 
aware of the British market you will also find controls for narrative 
(aka Audio Description). With both of those in place, the teletext p888 
could be left to be not but a memory.

I will point out one really big potential flaw in all of this. I 
sometimes watch a comedy sketch show on S4C and it has subtitles in 
Welsh for the deaf people as well as alternative subtitles in English 
for the non-Welsh speakers. With teletext I can pick. With digital 
receivers it seems to be more a "on or off" option.

I wonder what would happen in countries like Switzerland or Belgium 
where more than one language exists? I don't have Belgian TV, and only 
TV5 FBS/Monde (in French) for Switzerland, so it may be that the issue 
is ignored with channel X being in language Y, the end. I could also 
think of... erm... Finnish and Sami? Well, anywhere with multiple 
languages in use. Hell, Scotland even! Ireland!


> guessing that after termination of Teletext UK's services, we will be 
> shown a "goodbye" page, but no further content.

What is odd is that Teletext only recently launched on FreeSat, being 
about 10% a cut-down version of teletext, and 90% "Teletext Holidays" 
info/publicity. Maybe the economy, the fall in cheap airlines, the price 
of the pound, etc is more a factor than whether or not a small number of 
staff are keeping their jobs?
Still, I can't say we should be overly surprised - it IS an ITV 
enterprise after all... :-)


> What else will ITV do to save money I wonder?

Cancel dramas that cost too much to make. Cancel programming that is 
popular in order to "reinvigorate" the channel. Skip random episode of a 
series because, well, it'll cost less...

You know, I'm surprised they have not tried picture-in-picture to 
overlay adverts of DFS sofas and hair care products in the upper right 
corner of the screen while you are supposed to be enjoying Gossip Girl? 
Hell, with this modern technology they could have static adverts appear 
every other minute with you pressing the BLUE key to remove them. 
Aaargh! Our FreeSat boxes would need a pop-up killer patch!


Best wishes,

Rick.

-- 
Rick Murray, irregular internet access at local library.
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...