ORACLE (teletext) ORACLE (teletext) ORACLE (from "Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics") was a commercial teletext service first broadcast on the ITV network in the mid-late 1970s and later on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, finally ending on both channels at 23:59 UTC on 31 December 1992. It was developed and launched by a consortium backed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority at about the same time as the BBC's Ceefax service. Due to the lack of available receivers, exact launch dates have been left obscure. Receivers became popular around 1980. In Britain ORACLE, ITV's teletext service, was launched as
Service Information address of the BBC Engineering Information Department. The bulletin would then end with a rundown of the trade test colour films being shown on that particular day. ""And now we are returning to the colour test card and music until "Play School" at eleven o'clock"" would be a familiar closing phrase. "Service Information" bulletins generally lasted an average of two or three minutes but on Wednesday 25 August 1971, the longest "Service Information" bulletin known was aired, which ran for 11 minutes. A Monday to Friday "Tuning Information" bulletin was added to BBC2 in the heyday of colour coming to