Whensday: April 1, 1980

It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, it was really true. And if you thought that it was long forgotten, you would be wrong again. Teletkst began on Dutch televisions on April 1, 1980. Not every television set could show this special text news in the beginning, but within a few years every set could show it and many people swore by its use. 

Teletekst began at the BBC as Ceefax (See facts) in 1974. Several years later a few workers from the Dutch television NOS saw this special service and thought it would be great for the Netherlands, so they developed their own version. This became Teletekst. The first thing broadcast in the blocky letters was a chess match by Dutch chess legend Max Euwe. 

Teletekst has always been a place where viewers can find all sorts of information quickly, before the internet came along. Weather reports, sports scores, up-to-date news headlines and more could be found on the various pages of the service. The remote control had a special button to call up the teletekst, which could even be projected over the program being watched at the time. 

With the advent of the internet you would think that Teletekst would go out of service. Instead it remained a popular way to get information. Just a few years ago it was found that 11 million Dutchmen above 50 were still getting their news via teletekst. Many of them still did this via the television, but some followed the service via mobile telephone or internet.