Well before the dawn of the internet, Yle's 'Teksti-TV' debuted in 1981 to provide news, sports and weather updates around the clock.
- Yle News
Yle is marking 45 years of its teletext service on Wednesday. The tech is delivered directly through televisions capable of displaying it, without the need for a modem or subscription.
The service was initially aimed at people with hearing difficulties — but it soon became a source of news and information for an audience of millions. The primitive-looking but colourful blocky text and images are page-based, meaning that each section and subsection are assigned page numbers, which viewers punch in with a remote control.
Teletext was first seen in the UK in 1974, when the BBC began offering the service.
Finland got its first glimpse of the technology when Yle debuted its teletext service on 7 October 1981. It is still available on televisions as well as the internet.
A very limited amount of Yle News in English content is also on teletext, beginning on page 190.
The medium revolutionised the way information was distributed — well before the internet became a way of life.
Yle's teletext continues to offer up-to-date news, sports scores, weather information and much more.