Teletext Marks 20 Years Of Service To New Zealand

Teletext Marks 20 Years Of Service To New Zealand

One of the quiet success stories of New Zealand broadcasting marks its 20th anniversary on 1 February 2004.

Television New Zealand launched Teletext on that date in 1984. In the intervening years it has become the most popular text media service in the country, despite the growth of the Internet.

Services Teletext provides include News, Sport, TV Listings, Weather, Business and Travel information.

It also provides over 90 hours of captioned programmes per week, which are used by the deaf and hearing impaired as well as people with English as a second language.

According to latest research, around 800,000 New Zealanders use Teletext each week, and 75 per cent of all TV sets sold in New Zealand include a Teletext Decoder.

Despite the widely held view that mainly older New Zealanders use Teletext, that is not the case. "Our research shows us that New Zealanders of all ages use Teletext to get the latest news headlines and check how their favourite sports team is doing or to see how their shares are doing, what's on TV next or what the weather will do," said TVNZ Interactive Executive Producer Glyn Jones.

He also said TVNZ remains committed to Teletext and is investing in new technology to ensure continued quality of service and to introduce new capabilities.

Kiwis from all walks of life use Teletext. "Prime Minister Helen Clark admits to keeping in touch via Teletext and at least one All Black recently wouldn't believe he had been chosen for the team until he saw his name on Teletext," he said.

New Zealanders can access Teletext via TV ONE, TV2, TV3 and on the Sky platform.

ENDS

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