FourText
FourText (originally 4-Tel) was the British Channel 4's ancillary teletext service from 1982 until 2003.
Content
FourText provided listings and information about Channel 4's programmes, such as previews of programmes and further information related to the programmes. The service was separate from the auxiliary and separately-licensed teletext service also available on the channel. FourText also provided subtitles for Channel 4 programmes on page 888.
History
FourText, originally called 4-Tel, was first run in conjunction with ORACLE, the auxiliary teletext provider for Channel 4, in the 1980s. 4-Tel occupied pages 410-499 within ORACLE's page space.
When ORACLE lost its licence and was replaced by Teletext Ltd in 1993, 4-Tel moved to its own page space on pages 300-399. Channel 4 enlisted Intelfax to run the service.
In 2002, 4-Tel was renamed FourText. In addition, FourText also launched on digital television.
In 2003, Channel 4 ended their contract with Intelfax and contracted out the service to Teletext Ltd. The new service was named Teletext on 4 and operated on pages 400-499 (which replaced pages 300-399 as Channel 4's page space).
4-Tel On View
4-Tel On View was a similar concept to Pages from Ceefax, providing Channel 4 with a selection of pages from 4-Tel, for broadcast before the day's programming began. It served as something of a substitute test card, with either a tone or music playing in the background. The pages were only broadcast on weekdays until C4 began breakfast-time broadcasting in April 1989. It ceased to be broadcast altogether in January 1997, when Channel 4 began broadcasting 24 hours.
Like Pages from Ceefax, On View was originally transmitted as part of the standard teletext feed but made visible to all using an in-vision teletext generator. Viewers with teletext sets could watch 4-Tel on View at any time, by selecting page 466 of 4-Tel. In October 1985, On View moved to page 459, but was not usually available once Channel 4 had begun programmes.
In early 1986, 4-Tel adopted a new method of production for On View, introducing animated graphics to link the usual information pages. The animations were produced using a Magic RITE box and viewable only "in vision"; ordinary teletext sets could not (and still cannot) reproduce them. The animated version of On View did not have a page header, although a page header did briefly appear in late 1987.
From mid 1983 until April 1989, 4-Tel On View was transmitted on weekdays in fifteen-minute bursts, alternating with Oracle On View and the ETP-1 test card. These transmissions were originally broadcast in the afternoon (between 1pm and 4.15pm) as Channel 4 didn't start broadcasting until around 5pm. 4-Tel was broadcast between :00 and :15 past the hour with Oracle on View from :30 to :45. The testcard was shown at all other times. During the second half of the 1980s Channel 4 gradually increased its transmission hours and in-vision teletext broadcasts moved to increasingly early slots. The first expansion of broadcast hours took place in October 1984 and teletext broadcasts moved to between 10am and 1.45pm with the following schedule - 4-Tel was shown from :00 to :15 and from :30 to :45, the Oracle on View slot was :15 to :30 and the ETP testcard radiated in the final fifteen minutes of each hour and continuously from 1.45 until the first programme which started at around 2.30pm. In September 1987 ITV Schools switched to Channel 4 and teletext was only broadcast during the morning due to Channel 4 starting transmissions at 9.30am during the term time and 12noon during the school holidays. Teletext pages were shown from 8am until 9.27am during the school term and between 8am and 11.45am when schools programmes were not being broadcast. The broadcast schedule followed the same sequence as had been established in 1984. Also at this time, Oracle on View's pages became news pages whereas before Oracle On View had been used to showcase one aspect of the Oracle service, alternating subject matter every few months. From Christmas 1988 the first 4-Tel slot was broadcast at 7.30am and continued during the spring term of 1989 as Channel 4 showed Sesame Street at 8.30am. As a result, there were just two 4-Tel transmissions and one brief slot for Oracle On View. In April 1989, Channel 4 introduced breakfast television leaving On View relegated to one continuous 40-minute slot at 5:20am. Oracle On View disappeared entirely at this point.
4-Tel On View made what many thought was its last appearance on 31 December 1992, following the change of teletext franchise from ORACLE to Teletext Ltd. After a six-month hiatus, 4-Tel On View returned in July 1993 and was shown during Channel 4's closedown periods because the ETP1 test card had been discontinued at the end of 1992.
ITV's Nightscreen once followed a similar format, but the teletext pages have now been replaced with a more modern form of multimedia and video playback technology.
See also
- Sbectel - S4C's ancillary teletext service
External links
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