BBC red button teletext

[zwarder]

Hi fitted a new TV for a friend which only has hbb & he has no internet, he kept his Humax going but now complains BBC Teletext service rarely works.
I have explained it will be shutting down in the near future.
Can anyone confirm it's still available?
I rarely ever used Freeview

 

[Owen Smith]

BBC Teletext was on analogue TV and was shutdown at digital switchover over a decade ago. I hope you are asking about the BBC's digital text service.

 

[Black Hole]

AKA "Red Button".

 

[Owen Smith]

AKA "Red Button".

Yes that's a good way of describing it.

 

[zwarder]

BBC Teletext was on analogue TV and was shutdown at digital switchover over a decade ago. I hope you are asking about the BBC's digital text service.

yes that's what I mean

 

[Luke]

... BBC Teletext service rarely works.
...
Can anyone confirm it's still available?

BBC Red Button is still reliably available on my HDR-FOX T2s via its red button or via its text button.
The last cut down of its pages that I am aware of was in November 2024, (which resulted in me not using it any more). But I have checked on my HDR-FOX T2 and other pages still appear.

 

[EEPhil]

Red button text available and working on all my TV/Humax devices except the Aura. It wouldn't surprise me if newer TVs don't have access to red button text https://rxtvinfo.com/2025/sneaky-withdrawal-of-bbc-red-button-text-gathers-pace/

 

[alanofcleeves]

Neither of my LG sets has it. The older of the two was purchased in Feb'22.
I can get by without it but still make use of it on the HDR.

 

[Black Hole]

If people are genuinely impacted by the run-down of BBC Red Button, they should complain and explain why. I know it's probably pissing in the wind, but the BBC is supposed to be audience-driven. Enough complaints, and they would have to listen.

Ditto receiver manufacturers: if enough people refuse to buy sets not capable of displaying Red Button, they would soon change their minds.

 

[EEPhil]

Enough complaints, and they would have to listen.

Ever watched Newswatch? People complain about similar items over and over again. The BBC issues the same response every time. Like most broadcasters they think they know best and the audience know nothing.
What makes you think that complaining about the red button will achieve much? Already some stories in the news section are just a cropped version of an online item and don't make sense, or they refer to pictures that don't exist. Death by a thousand cuts comes to mind.
It seems that Teletext might have been in use in Germany until recently. ZDF now has a Teletext set of pages on their website https://teletext.zdf.de/teletext/zdf/ - I suspect that is to replace the TV version and to keep the viewers happy. (My knowledge of German is poor - basic tourist if that).

 

[MartinLiddle]

What makes you think that complaining about the red button will achieve much?

It is better than doing nothing.

 

[Rodders53]

Friend needs to get Internet installed?
HbbTV went live in 2017 and some sets still support both MHEG and HbbTV, I suspect.

Red Button | Help receiving TV and radio

The BBC offers two different red button services that you access by pressing the red button on your remote control when on a BBC channel.

www.bbc.co.uk

Things move on... AM radio is ceasing... other (current) TV and Radio broadcasting will follow and be replaced by a modern alternative such as iPTV (Freely) and may well be received via mobile data as well as fibres or cables into homes.

So getting this friend into the late 20th Century and onto the internet is only about 25 years overdue.

 

[Owen Smith]

It is better than doing nothing.

No it's not, complaining about red button is a complete waste of time and doing nothing isn't.

The direction of travel is clear given so many new TVs don't even support red button.

 

[prpr]

Already some stories in the news section are just a cropped version of an online item and don't make sense

Some? I thought they were all like that. I would wager they just take the first two (deliberately short) paragraphs from the web site article and stick that into the Red Button service (all automatically).

 

[Owen Smith]

The BBC backed the wrong horse with MHEG, it never achieved critical mass of support with other broadcasters.

 

[EEPhil]

Some? I thought they were all like that. I would wager they just take the first two (deliberately short) paragraphs from the web site article and stick that into the Red Button service (all automatically).

Yes, some. There are a few pages that make sense. You probably are correct with the automatic two paragraphs. The ones that make sense are likely to be where a good journalist has got the gist of the story into two paragraphs and the rest, for the web, is fluff.