“However, for people who have no access to online services, it is for some households (after the demise of other Teletext services) the only way to check headlines or weather reports at the touch of a button. Sillito said: “Maintaining and updating a service that is used by a rapidly declining audience is hard to justify at a time when the BBC is looking to make big savings. In 2010, the service was considered “old fashioned” and was valued at costing £39 million per year to run. The red button was launched in 1999, taking over from Ceefax, the world’s first Teletext information service, which was phased out after its launch 45 years ago.īBC media and arts correspondent David Sillito said that ten years ago, 12 million people a week used the red button and reached around five million people who did not have access to BBC online. Read more: BBC CTO reveals changes to red-button and smart TV apps.Last November, IBC365 reported the changes the UK broadcaster announced to its interactive service.Įxplaining the changes in a BBC blog, BBC CTO Matthew Postgate blamed “financial pressure and the continued need to spend the licence fee as effectively as possible” for scrapping some of the services. It has asked for immediate clarification and public scrutiny on how the BBC came to the decision to switch it off.Īccording to reports, several protesters were seen outside the BBC’s New Broadcasting House in London on Monday morning ahead of the petition hand in. The petition demands an immediate pause on the withdrawal of the BBC red button Teletext service which is due to be phased out from this Thursday. In a report from the BBC, the first changes to the red button are in place for the coming days with the service likely to close over the next “few weeks”, according to an unnamed spokesperson. It added that its withdrawal “will leave many people, who are already vulnerable, further isolated and marginalised from society”. The NFBUK said the service is critical for people “who want to find out information independently in an easy, convenient and accessible format”. The petition has been organised by the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK), urging decision makers to consider how “vital” the red button is for those with limited sight, hearing impairments and those who have no access to the internet. Protesters have handed a petition to the UK government and the BBC over the latter’s plans to switch off Red Button services in the coming weeks. Interactive services: Petition to save red button

How to access the bbc red button