Advantages of teletext

Teletext as a media on TV has survived from 1980, when it first became widely available on TV receivers, up until 2026 and continues to be used by millions of viewers in Europe. It’s usage will probably persist even after the year 2030.

Following is a list of main reasons why teletext has survived for 5 decades and is still being used by millions of TV viewers:

Teletext:

• Perfectly optimized for its specific purpose
• Compressed essential information presented to viewer to avoid reading a page for minutes
• No clickbaits, no bloated information
• Extremely low latency (instant access when switching channels)
• Minimal resource consumption
• Always works, even with a weak internet connection
• No ads, no tracking, no login screens
• Keyboard navigation is incredibly fast (typing a 3-digit page number)
• Equipment cost and production cost is far lower than for webpages

HbbTV/Apps as a “modern replacement”:

• Slow loading times
• More clicks required
• Requires internet in addition to the TV signal
• Often overloaded with features nobody needs
• Touchscreen navigation on remote controls is cumbersome
• Too much information causes that a lot of time is necessary to read the page
• May contain commercial information, clickbaits and other content which draws the attention away from the actual content