Planet Sound

Planet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From 24 May 2007, Planet Sound was also available to read online via the Teletext website. The pages were all simultaneously updated daily at 10pm.

History

Teletext's predecessor ORACLE ran a similar music section in the 1980s. Future PS editor John Earls had reader reviews printed, aged 14, in ORACLE's Blue Suede Views of 1987 albums by ABC, Pet Shop Boys and Westworld under the pseudonym Jetty.

Planet Sound (named after the Pixies song Planet of Sound) began in 1997, when its chief writer was Stephen Eastwood. Other past writers for Planet Sound include Jacqui Swift, now a music writer for The Sun's Friday entertainment supplement Something For The Weekend, Alistair Clay and Andy Panos. Its chief writer since January 2001 was John Earls.

Since November 2008, when its other freelancers were made redundant, Earls was Planet Sound's sole writer. Regular freelancers included Ian Gittins, who also writes about music for The Guardian, Colin Irwin, the former Planet Sound editor and folk music expert who is regularly a judge on the Mercury Music Prize, Ric Rawlins, who is also Reviews Editor of online music magazine Artrocker, Kat Lister, a freelancer for NME, Tom Thorogood, now a journalist at MTV, Innes Weir, who also contributes to music magazine M8 and Natalie Shaw. Planet Sound closed on 15 December when Teletext ceased to broadcast in the UK.