Teletext (or "broadcast teletext") is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules. Subtitle (or closed captioning) information is also transmitted in the teletext signal, typically on page 888 or 777.
A number of similar teletext services were developed in other countries, some of which attempted to address the limitations of the British-developed system, with its simple graphics and fixed page sizes.
Active and defunct teletext services by country Albania Top-Channel TVSH Mediaset RAI SAT.1
Austria
ORF Text (ORF1, ORF2, ORF3) ORF Sport Text (ORF Sport Plus) TW1 Text (TW1) 3satText (3sat) ATV TEXT (ATV) Puls 4 Text (Puls 4) Sat1 Österreich Text (Sat 1 Österreich) ProSieben Text Austria (Pro 7 Österreich) kabel eins text Austria (Kabel 1 Österreich) RTLtext AT (RTL Österreich) RTL II TEXT AT (RTL 2) Austria 9 Text (Austria 9) Tirol TV teletext
Bosnia and Herzegovina BHT1 Text (BHT1) - main state level public TV channel in Bosnia and Herzegovina FTV Text (FTV) - entity level public TV channel RTRS Text (RTRS) - entity level public TV channel
Bulgaria BNT Text (BNT1, BNT2, BNT3, BNT4) - main state level public TV channel in Bulgaria
Croatia HTV TTXT (Croatian Radiotelevision) Nova Text (Nova TV) RTL Text (RTL Televizija) (defunct)
Czech Republic Teletext ČT
Defunct services Teletext Nova Prima Teletext Prima Cool Teletext Prima Love Teletext Teletext TV Barrandov Teletext TV Óčko
Denmark DR Tekst-TV (Danmarks Radio) TV2 Tekst-TV (TV2 Adopted digital teletext, but abandoned the service in 2019) Viasat Tekst-TV (Viasat)
In fact, almost all TV channels in Denmark have teletext (called tekst-TV). Some of those services are entirely in Danish, while international channels (Discovery Channel, Animal Planet etc.) share their teletext with the other Scandinavian countries.
Finland The Finnish national public broadcaster Yle has its own Teletext (Yle Teksti-TV). It shows news, sport and programme information round the clock. Theme pages on the weather, traffic, work and leisure. Teksti-TV also has news in English on page 190.
Yle Teksti-TV (Yle) MTV3 Tekstikanava (MTV3) (defunct) TekstiNelonen (Nelonen) (defunct) Subteksti (Sub) (defunct)
France
In France, where the SECAM standard is used in television broadcasting, a teletext system was developed in the late 1970s under the name Antiope. It had a higher data rate and was capable of dynamic page sizes, allowing more sophisticated graphics. It was phased out in favour of standard teletext in 1991.
French channels have no more teletext:
TF1 (defunct) France TV (defunct) Arte France (defunct) M6 (defunct)
Germany
Almost all German TV stations have teletext. Here are some of it: ARD (and all regional broadcasters) ZDF: (ZDF, ZDFneo, ZDFinfo) ARD & ZDF: KiKa, Phoenix RTL Deutschland: (RTL, VOX, RTL II, ... and others) ProSiebenSat.1: (ProSieben, Sat.1, kabel eins, ... and others) Tele 5 Sport1 Welt ... and others
Hungary
MTVA TXT (M1, M2, M4 Sport, M5, Duna, Duna World / M4 Sport+) TV2 Text RTL text ATV, Hir TV (subtitling only)
Iceland RÚV textavarp (Icelandic public TV station RÚV) available to view at Textavarp.is
Ireland RTÉ Aertel (RTÉ One, RTÉ 2, RTÉjr and RTÉ News) Currently, the service is now shut down.
Defunct services threetext (TV3, 2001–201?) Téacs TG4 (TG4) (1999–20??)
Italy
State-owned RAI launched its Teletext service, called Televideo, in 1984. Televideo (RAI)
Defunct services MTV Video was active between 2000 and 2010 (ex MusicFax in 1991), while "LA7 Video", the Teletext service of La7, was launched in 2001 but discontinued in 2014 (ex TMCvideo in 1992). Mediaset, the main commercial broadcaster, launched its Mediavideo in 1997 (ex Teletext in 1993) (discontinued in 2022). La7Video (La7) MTVVideo (MTV) Mediavideo (Mediaset)
Latvia TV3.lv (TV3 Latvia)
Defunct service Latvian Television used to have teletext, but as of March 2007, it is closed.
Luxembourg RTL Text (RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg)
Netherlands
The Netherlands has run a regular Teletext service since the end of 1977 on the public broadcasting channels, and the commercial and regional channels that were later introduced also have their own services. Some of these channels also run Tekst-TV, which broadcasts a selection of their teletext pages as a regular TV broadcast, using improved fonts and background graphics, when no normal programming is shown.
NOS Teletekst (NPO 1, NPO 2 and NPO 3)NOS.nl Omroep Brabant Omrop Fryslân Text RTV Drenthe RTV Oost TV Gelderland Teletekst
Subtitling only RTL Nederland Text (RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL7 and RTL 8) SBS Text (NET5 Text, SBS6 Text, Veronica Text. Main teletext service ended 1 January 2018.)
Over SSH NOS
Defunct service Fox Sports (ended 27 June 2019)
Norway Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation: NRK Tekst-TV TV 2: TV 2 Text TVNorge TV3
Pakistan PTV Teletext service
Philippines ABC Teletext/5Text/TV5 Teletext ABS-CBN Teletext GMA Teletext PeoplesText by PTV
Poland
Telegazeta (Telewizja Polska) Gazeta TV Polsat (Polsat) Gazeta TV4 (TV4) Telestrony (TVN) Mediatext 5 (Tele5) Mediatext 1P (Polonia 1) 4fun.tv Text
Portugal
RTP Texto (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal) SIC Teletexto (SIC) Teletexto TVI (TVI)
Romania
Teletext TVR (TVR 1, TVR1 HD, TVR 2, TVR2 HD, TVR 3, TVRi)
Discontinued services CNM Text (Național TV, Național 24 Plus, Favorit TV, CineEst, Boomerang, TV Market) Antena Group Teletext (Antena 1, Antena Stars, Antena 3, Happy Channel, ZU TV)
Russia
Channel One Russia 1 (subtitles only) Match TV (subtitles only) NTV Channel 5 Russia K (subtitles only) Karusel (subtitles only) REN TV (subtitles only) CENTR-INFO (TV Center) STS (subtitles only) Domashny (subtitles only) TV-3 (subtitles only) Friday! (subtitles only) Zvezda (subtitles only) TNT (subtitles only) 2x2 (subtitles only) Mir (subtitles only) Soyuz (subtitles only) Che! (subtitles only) STS LOVE (subtitles only) TNT4 (subtitles only) Kuhnya TV (subtitles only) Auto Plus (subtitles only) Animal Planet (subtitles only) Nickelodeon (subtitles only) IZ.RU (subtitles only) Muzika Pervogo (subtitles only) Super! (subtitles only) Match! Strana (subtitles only)
Defunct services 1 kanal Ostankino ORT 4 kanal Ostankino Rossiskije University RTR MTV Russia (2006–2008) 2x2 Russia-Kuban Peterburgksiy teletext (TNT-Peterburg, Peterburg - 5 kanal, Regionalnoe televidenie) Sevastopolskiy teletext (NTS) Nizhegorodskiy teletext (NTR, NNTV, ORT) Prima-TV Stolitca 31 kanal TV-6 MTK Sluzhba Teletext (M1)
Serbia TeletextB92 (B92) Prva Teletekst (Prva Srpska Televizija) Happy teletext Happy TV Pink Teletekst (RTV Pink) RTS Teletekst (RTS 1, RTS 2) RTV Teletekst (RTV1 RTV2) Sport Klub TXT RTV Studio B TXT Arena Sport Teletext (Arena Sport 1)
Defunct services BK Videotext (BKTV) Super TV Teletext (Super TV) Enter Teletext (TV Enter) 3K Text (RTS 3K) Avala text (Avala)
Slovakia defunct STV text (Slovenská televízia, closed 1 March 2026) defunct Markízatext (Markíza) defunct JOJ text (TV JOJ)
Slovenia MMC Teletekst (Radiotelevizija Slovenija)
South Africa Teledata (only available on SABC 2; rarely updated)
Spain
Teletexto TVE (Televisión Española since 1988) Teletexto AtresMedia (Antena 3, laSexta) Teletexto Mediaset (Telecinco, Cuatro, FDF) Teletexto Televisió de Catalunya Teletexto Canal Sur Energy (only for subtitles) Divinity (only for subtitles) Boing (only for subtitles) BeMad (only for subtitles)
Defunct services Telemadrid (1991–2013) Televisión de Galicia (1995–2018)
Sweden SVT Text (Sveriges Television)
Defunct services Kanal 5 Text (Kanal 5) TV3 Text (TV3) TV6 Text (TV6) TV4 Text (TV4)
Switzerland
TELETEXT (Made by SWISS TXT for all national TV stations, including SF, TSR and TSI). 3+ TEXT (3+) RTL II TEXT CH(RTL 2) SSF TEXT (Schweizer Sportfernsehen)
Turkey Telegün (TRT) The Teletext is available online at (Telegün)
Defunct services D Text (Kanal D) ShowText (Show TV) Start Text (Star TV) AText (ATV) Tirol Text (Tirol TV)
Ukraine INTERTEXT (The Teletext on Inter Media Group TV channels, also is available on-line at Інтертекст)
Vietnam Vitek and Dong Nai Television, collaborated to create the first Vietnamese language teletext in the summer of 2004.
Countries with no teletext services
Worldwide BBCfax (BBC World), 1991–2012) CNN text (CNN), 1993–2006) TV5 text (TV5Monde), 1993–2013)
Australia Austext (Seven Network) (1982 – 30 September 2009)
Belarus Beltek (Belarus-1) (defunct from 2008)
Belgium RTBF-Teletexte (RTBF. Service ended during the week of 12 February 2024) VRT-Teletekst (VRT. Service ended 1 June 2016)
Bulgaria Televest (BNT 1) (defunct since 2017) Evrokom text (Evrokom NKTV) (defunct) Nova text (Nova TV) (defunct since 2012)
Canada
The CBC ran a teletext service, IRIS, accessible only in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. It ran from 1983 until about 1986, and used the Canadian-developed Telidon system, which was developed in 1980. Like Antiope, Telidon allowed significantly higher graphic resolution than standard teletext.
Estonia ETV teletekst (Eesti Televisioon) (defunct) TV3.ee (TV3 Estonia) (defunct)
Greece NERIT (State television channels N1, N Sports) (defunct, no longer operational.) Mediatext (Mega Channel, Star Channel, Sports TV, Extra3) (defunct) Newsphone Hellas (ANT1, Alpha TV, Alter Channel, MAD TV) (defunct) Metromedia Group (Vergina, Nickelodeon, Rise, Smile, Nickelodeon Plus, Super TV Halkidiki, Ionian Channel, Atlas TV) (defunct)
Indonesia TVRI-Text (TVRI, 1994–2002) RCTI Seputar (RCTI, 1994–2002)
Israel Teletext (Israeli Educational Television, 1982–2014)
Japan
Telemo Japan (NHK) TV Asahi Data Vision (TV Asahi) (7 April 1986 – 24 July 2011) AXES4 (Nippon TV) (1985 – 31 March 2007) Tokyo Data Vision (TBS) Fuji TV Tokyo Metropolitan Television Nikkei Telepress (TV Tokyo)
Malaysia Beriteks (RTM) (1985–2000) Infonet (TV3) (1985–2008)
New Zealand TVNZ Teletext (TVNZ 1, TVNZ 2, TV3) (1984 – 2 April 2013)
Singapore
MediaCorp Teletext (MediaCorp TV Channel 5, MediaCorp TV Channel 8, MediaCorp Channel NewsAsia) (1 August 1983 – 30 September 2013)
Thailand "ข่าวเขียน อสมท" Or Electronic News (9MCOT) (1983–1993) "Infonet" (Channel 3 (Thailand)) (Known up until 1996 as ข่าวเขียน ช่อง 3)
United Kingdom
Teletext was created in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. Different systems existed, but by the end of the decade they converged, with the creation of the World System Teletext (WST). WST remained in use for analogue broadcasts until 2012.