Renting Screen Time: Granada TV Commercial, 1977

By Richard McKenna / September 30, 2026 Object Name: Granada TV Rental commercial Maker and Year: Granada Ltd. Object Type: TV commercial Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc3ZoxJ3yYs Description: (Richard McKenna) This 1977 TV commercial for Granada TV Rental opens a window onto an almost forgotten aspect of the relationship the British viewing public once enjoyed with their television sets. Despite having evolved in parallel with that of our counterparts across the Atlantic, it was a relationship with some important differences, the first of which was scale: until the arrival of Channel 4 in November of 1982, the British public enjoyed a wealth of exactly three channels—BBC1, BBC2, and ITV—none of which broadcast for more than 15 hours a day, much of which was programming for schools or for the Open University. Programming would usually start at 9:30 or 10:00 am, and the latest-running channel would usually wind up at around midnight with the weather forecast and (in…