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
Teletext systems as the "Broadcast Teletext Specification". With some tweaks to allow for alternative national character sets, and adaptations to the NTSC 525-line system as necessary, this was then promoted internationally as "World System Teletext". It was accepted by CCIR in 1986 as "CCIR Teletext System B", one of four recognised standards for teletext worldwide. In France, where the SECAM standard is used in television broadcasting, a teletext system was developed in the late 1970s under the name "Antiope". It had a higher data rate and was capable of dynamic page sizes, allowing more sophisticated graphics. It was phased out in favour