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Old 13th Oct 2020, 6:07 pm   #21
G6Tanuki
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

Rental was indeed popular because of 'fear of repair costs' - and given the often-wobbly nature of first-generation PAL hybrid colour-TVs the fear was rather well-grounded!

The need for a certain amount of initial down-payment (whether for rental or hire-purchase/finance) and the frequenr variation of the amount - was one of the ways Governments of the day tried to boost/choke-off economic demand: varying the rate of Purchase Tax (Colour-TVs are clearly a luxury item so P.T. would be set high; smaller-screen B&W models were less-luxury so less P.T.) was similarly used as one of the 'levers'; the 50s and 60s were a classic case of the 'stop-go' economy with credit-controls being relaxed, stoking demand, (which indigenous manufacturers couldn't always meet - so imports were sucked-in to fill the gap) inevitably followed by controls being re-implemented and triggering a slump - often just at the point the UK manufacturers had geared-up to meet heightened demand!

There were also 'tweaks' to the capital-depreciation of rented TVs that could be set against a rental-company's profits: the Chancellor could wave his red pencil in a budget and convert a rental-company's current-assets into major tax-liabilities at a stroke. All of this helped lead to the downfall of the UK consumer-electronics industries.

[Personally I'm just as fascinated by the socioeconomic aspects of the industry than by the technologies involved]
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Old 13th Oct 2020, 7:08 pm   #22
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

As Atlantic said [in his initial post] from 1967 onwards buying a colour TV was a very big investment and risk! The sets were large, heavy and expensive very much treated with respect. People really did stand in the street and watch through the Dealer's window (in Bury anyway] for long periods of time. I think the first program was Tennis in colour. My friends dad was a University Lecturer [a prestigious job then] and very welcoming. He wasn't at all "flashy" but could afford a high end [Swedish?] modernistic Radiogram [still a status symbol then, it wasn't all Dansette record players] and chose an exotic Tandberg Tape Recorder to go with it. [The Dealer looked delighted].

Finally they were able to afford a colour TV as well. This meant that we all managed to go round to see the Test Transmissions in colour [Genevive?] and things like the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour on BBC2 at Xmas. I was there when the set was being installed with almost an air of reverence. The Engineer warned that magnets should be kept away from the screen [ie Spkr cabinets] and there was also a belief that you should avoid being too close to the screen re "radiation" from the increased EHT. I mentioned that once before on here and whether it was actually said [never mind the truth of the claim] was disputed by both sides. A bit like whether TV Detector Vans were real or not8-

I think my friends parents were a bit different in their attitude, ie very modest, [they'd inherited some money when his elderly parents died as well]. Generally it was the same old story with a number of others who just wanted to show off their superior purchasing power with Radiograms/drinking Spirits [quite a rare thing then re the price] Central Heating/Owning a new car etc. My Uncle went in for all that in a fairly tasteless way. I suppose the modern equivalent would be when the very first Mobile Phones and WS Sets appeared. By 1974 I was married and living in Ramsbottom. Getting a Finlandia Colour TV set from Granada [the Rental not TV Company] "bundled" with an impressive VCR [you could even dub a sound track on it] was a no brainer in terms of low cost and guaranteed repair or replacement-no charge. "Luxsury" as they say in the Monty Python "shoe box" sketch

Dave W

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Old 13th Oct 2020, 7:09 pm   #23
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

Hi.

We only had a 1950s Pye TV that was also able to receive ITV. That set served us well until it became uneconomic to repair. We wanted a colour TV to replace it but my parents couldn't afford the cost of a new colour set.

My father rented a colour TV from Rediffusion in the early 1970s. I remember being fascinated watching the service engineer set up the new set. Something puzzled me in later years, I believe the set was a hybrid Bush (possibly similar to a CTV167) so must have been a few years old when the rental agreement started. After about a year, Rediffusion replaced the set with a version of the RBM A823 chassis and that lasted well and only needing the odd service call.

Due to the finances being tight, we had to give up the set and bought a second hand black and white set. It wasn't until October 1979 that we had colour again by the way of a Philips G25K500 G6 d/s set. That to me was a very special set and certainly lived up to its reputation for displaying an excellent picture. I will always remember when I first removed the back cover. I was amazed at how many valves the set had and the general sophistication of the chassis. The imposing looking EHT tower with its X-ray warning adding to the fascination.
I think the rental TVs we had from Rediffusion was what started my interest in electronics so thanks Rediffusion.

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Old 13th Oct 2020, 7:28 pm   #24
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

That's brilliant Symon. I didn't expect someone with X-Ray evidence to turn up and it only took half a century.

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Old 13th Oct 2020, 7:57 pm   #25
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

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Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick View Post
The lady of the house, who looking back was a bit of a Hyacinth Bucket, got up and promptly changed the channel: "Oh, we don't watch anything in black and white..." !
Ha Ha. I bet she used to leave the curtains open to show off "we own a brand new colour TV" to the neighbours.

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Old 13th Oct 2020, 8:15 pm   #26
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

I was born in 1971 so, as far as I was concerned, it was bought colour televisions from the start. We had two ITT sets (that was the badge on both of them anyway), one after another. Nothing wrong with the first one but we redeployed it to our country cottage (yes, we were lucky) and got another ITT. The second one lasted about ten years before giving up and going BER. I don't remember what brand/badge we got afterwards.
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Old 13th Oct 2020, 8:46 pm   #27
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

My parents rented their first colour TV in 1980 which was a 22 inch Ultra which went wrong nearly every 2 weeks! I can't recall the model but it was solid state and my dad fiddled with the convergence pots in an attempt to improve the picture. He ended up calling the repair guy and told them I did it while I was told to hide out of sight upstairs during the repair call! This set was evenually replaced with a 20 inch brand new Hitach rental which was totally reliable.
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Old 13th Oct 2020, 8:47 pm   #28
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

After some badgering from me, my Dad arranged to rent a Baird 701(I think) with doors from Radio Rentals in Tonbridge, right at the start of the service in 1967. Cost was about 30s. a week.

I remember there was talk at the time that British colour should be 'tasteful' and not follow the American exanple with highly saturated studio sets. All very 'BBC2' and 'Attenborough' (BBC2 Controller at the time). Certainly, my dad liked the saturation control well down.

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Old 13th Oct 2020, 9:21 pm   #29
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

Quote:
Originally Posted by Philips210 View Post
Ha Ha. I bet she used to leave the curtains open to show off "we own a brand new colour TV" to the neighbours.
Heaven forfend. Oh wait.
https://youtu.be/9ItzIZkZhOg?t=23
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Old 13th Oct 2020, 10:42 pm   #30
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

I read somewhere that rentals had a boom in the mid 1970s due to VAT being increased on new sets, which would have been a hefty mark up on a colour one.

My parents only switched in 1977 as they had more pressing financial matters.

They rented until 1984, by which time it was more economic to buy a set on credit.
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Old 13th Oct 2020, 10:56 pm   #31
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

I was a little fascinated from afar by the rental phenomenon, the high street outlets but more so the generations of used ex-rental TVs offered for sale. My parents were of the "don't bring anything into the house until it's fully paid for" school, so their first colour set didn't arrive until late in 1977, while I was away in my first term at university.

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Old 14th Oct 2020, 8:13 am   #32
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

Quote:
Originally Posted by emeritus View Post
My students' union at Cardiff got a large screen colour TV for the TV room as soon as colour was available in South Wales in the late 1960's. It only lasted a couple of months: one Saturday afternoon two men in white coats boldly walked in, told the watching students that it needed to go away for adjustment, unplugged it and walked out with it, never to be seen again.
Nicked, by the sound of it! A Steinway disapeared from BH in much the same way.

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Old 14th Oct 2020, 8:23 am   #33
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

Colour arrived chez nous for the 1969 BBC1 launch, Dad used to repair our and friends' black and white sets but was adamant that colour was a different proposition altogether, so he rented a huge Bush thing from a local firm. I remember an early service call when the colour had gone funny, and the engineer changed a 4.7M resitor, if memory serves - he gave me the duff one, evidently used to technically curious lads. That set went in favour of a Philips (G8?) from the same people, which lasted into the 80s.
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 4:00 pm   #34
Malcolm G6ANZ
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

When I started work in the mid 60's there was a substantial back pay awarded to the physics section of the NHS where I worked. I wasn't eligible as I had only been there a few months. The man I worked with decided to spend the lot on a colour TV. From what I recall the amount was around £300. A huge amount in 1967.
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 4:30 pm   #35
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

£300 in 1967 is roughly equivalent to £5,500 in today's terms so definitely an awful lot of disposable income for what would now also cost about £300 for a fairly basic model.

Alan
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 4:54 pm   #36
dave walsh
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

Yes Malcolm/Alan the set I described [at P22*] was that sort of price. More than a years wages at, say, £6 a week A perfect circle [like Pre War TV's and Radiograms perhaps?]. Very few can afford them so only a few are made which [in itself ] keeps the price sky high In the seventies, Rental Companies like Granada bought new in bulk and made a profit because they could offer good quality and service for a reasonable monthly outlay. Later the same economies of scale made buying outright viable for most people. [As said elsewhere recently I've just bought a 55" FS for £329].

The standard screen size re a colour [or maybe b+w] TV was 21" [mid 70's to 80's]. Perversely, in 1982 I wanted a small colour portable [allegedly-it wasn't really] but could only find a JVC 14" with VCR video in [via bnc sockets] at £300. A 21" colour set was much cheaper than that! The same thing seemed to happen when FS sets first came in. The smaller sizes were much more expensive [supply and demand?].

Dave
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 6:28 pm   #37
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

As another narrative: tagging along on one of my mother's monthly trips to Shrewsbury [where her happy-hunting-ground was the likes of McClures and Della Porta's where new frocks/dresses/outfits might be available] - we diverted into the Radio Rentals shop [who were our 405-line mono-TV providers]

Colour, you see, had appeared. My mother was a Tennis-fan! And Wimbledon was being broadcast in colour!

Materfamilias put a week-or-two's salary-money down as the upfront payment as was required back then; RR were persuaded to come out and install a UHF antenna and supply a colour-telly.

They arrived, installed, and failed to get a satisfactory picture. They left the telly and arranged for someone 'higher up the ladder' in terms of antenna-rigging to visit, which he did - installing a 'bayed' UHF antenna which didn't really help improve matters.

The problem was that there was a dirty great lump-of-an-extinct-volcano called "The Wrekin" which sat directly between us and Sutton-Coldfield.

After much messing-around, RR took the ill-fated colour-telly away and agreed we didn't need to pay anything for this misadventure.

As a compensation, my mother took the repayment, and we went to the local Rootes dealer, where she used it to upgrade her 3-year-old Hillman Super-Minx to a new Sunbeam Rapier.
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 9:00 pm   #38
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

We only had a succesion of b+w sets (1 rented) until I started work and I went half with my Dad on a new Philips 26" set, quite a late one I guess with the tile type station buttons rather than the square ones, cant remember the exact date.

I remember as it having an excellent picture and it was reliable too, maybe 2 repairs and we only got rid of it when the Tube was too clapped out.
Steve.
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 10:04 pm   #39
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

My aunt was one of the first to get Colour back in 1967 as well as a wealthy friend of my grandparents. I was visiting my aunt and the colour seemed extraordinary bright, so I adjusted the colour contrast and brightness control;s to make it more acceptable, but was told to 'put it back' because thats the way the man (engineer) had left it.

As for the other set in our friends house, this was a large Philips Dual standard G6. It eventually turned up in my grandparents home where it was declared dead. A new mains fuse cured that, but my grandparents didn't want it because they didn't have a colour licence. I dont know what happened to it after that.
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Old 14th Oct 2020, 10:09 pm   #40
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Default Re: Raising finance to buy a colour TV in 1967

I remember the quip that the colour television cost the same as the van that was used to deliver it.

My first experience of colour TV in a domestic house must have been about 1971. I was at a friend's house, and he switched the telly on; after what seemed like ages, a central spot appeared, that expanded - and it was in colour. I didn't know it was a colour set till then!

My mother finally bought an ITT CK501, (mid 70s ??). There were several on display, working, in the shop - and we chose the one with the best picture. It lasted very well - don't know how long, cos I had left home when it was pensioned off. Long enough to be replaced by an all transistor one.

I do remember, as schoolkids could be naughty, a group of us walking round the TV shops, one of us with a large magnet in his pocket. We walked out of the shop pretty sharpish!!
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