TVNZ gives Teletext a dusting

Some 22 years after its launch, TVNZ Teletext is getting a makeover and trying to attract more users with a TV and print advertising campaign.

Despite the rise of the internet over the intervening two decades, the service has a loyal following, with 250,000 people using it daily, TVNZ interactive brand manager Tony Quarmby says.

Teletext ties in with the network's expanding range of interactive services, which includes online and mobile.

Quarmby said attracting more users to the service would help TVNZ to build brand awareness and reinforce the idea that its offerings were not limited to television.

He said the upgrade made Teletext easier to use and came after a survey showed viewers wanted Teletext to be retained. The changes created a more "logical" sequence of pages and freed up some of the capacity.

The upgrade comes despite an uncertain future for Teletext. Quarmby said it was likely to be phased out when digital television arrived - but that might be years away.

TVNZ Teletext is an information service that is broadcast free to Teletext-capable television sets. Pages of information are called up by remote control.

Teletext is broadcast on an otherwise unused portion of the television signal. The information is text-only and the service cannot provide sound, pictures or high-resolution graphics.

Quarmby refused to say how much the upgrade cost or whether Teletext makes a profit. However, he said it generated income through advertising, content sponsorship and providing pages for third parties, including the TAB (racing and sports betting prices) and Air New Zealand (flight arrivals and departures).

Teletext also provides a captioning service for deaf and hearing impaired viewers.

Two-thirds of users are aged under 50, and 57 per cent are male.

The advertising campaign announces the changes to the order of pages and the tagline "It's awfully good" plays on the service's clunky appearance.

The most popular pages are the ones providing weather forecasts for the country, New Zealand news and television listings.

Text message

* TVNZ Teletext offers news, weather, sports and a television guide among its pages.

* It is used by 250,000 people a day.

* It is a text-only system and is likely to be phased out when TVNZ goes digital.

* A marketing campaign is highlighting the re-ordering of its pages.