BBC Breakfast's latest segment has sparked a viewer backlash after some accused the broadcaster of being the grim reaper for Ceefax.
Hosts Jon Kay and Sally Nugent brought fans a slice of nostalgia during Monday's show, September 23, as they celebrated the iconic teletext service Ceefax on what would have been its golden jubilee. Ceefax, the world's pioneer in providing televised information services and a precursor to today's BBC Red Button, was lauded by its first chief editor Ian Morton-Smith, who featured in the tribute report.
Morton-Smith reminisced about Ceefax having 22 million users before acknowledging: "And then, of course, came the internet and killed it stone dead." The comment didn't sit well with viewers, who boldly contested this version of events.
One irate fan took to social media, venting: "LIARS! The internet DID NOT kill Ceefax / Teletext - the @BBC did. It is still in use on satellite TV throughout Europe. The BBC tried a fancy version of Ceefax with new crappy Freeview, and it was unusable crap," reports the Express.
Another Twitter user expressed their surprise, asserting: "Ceefax? We call it Teletekst and it is alive and kicking in the Netherlands. The Netherlands, a country with more computers than people."
A nostalgic third fan chimed in: "Happy Birthday to CEEFAX. I found myself missing CEEFAX the other day as I loved reading the news and sports including the dad jokes."
One viewer lamented the end of an era, linking the decline of Ceefax to modern technology : "Remember Ceefax @BBCBreakfast and Teletext. Yeah killed by the Internet and news apps etc. 888 subtitles."
Back in 1974, when the BBC unveiled Ceefax, it revolutionised access to informationdelivering everything from current affairs to recipes and quizzes right onto viewers' television screens, along with TV and radio schedules.
Delving into the inner workings of the groundbreaking service, former chief editor Morton-Smith reminisced: "Ceefax was unique at the time, when a story broke you didn't have to wait until the next bulletin, you'd go to Ceefax and get the story when you wanted it, not when the schedulers wanted it."
He added, detailing the early days: "We started working on the sixth floor of TV Centre and had all these news services like Reuters and PA and our job was to pick stories and write them up for Ceefax. When we'd finished creating a page, we pushed a button and out came a yellow punched tape, so we'd grab it and run downstairs to the central apparatus room, feed the tape into a machine pushed a button and it was live."
BBC Breakfast airs daily from 6am on BBC One
