'An intelligent and effective use of the rival screen': Re-discovering early British television trailers

Through an analysis of the first British television ‘trailers’, this article explores an intersection within media history where the film industry attempted to reach out and utilise the new dissemination medium of television. Whilst this moment could be read as an attempt to control the promotion of film on British commercial television, and impose American film trailer aesthetics on the ‘rival screen’, I explore the television trailer as an early cross-media text that offered a challenge to existing trailer structure and style. By focusing on the recreation of these lost texts through trade press commentary, the article provides a new perspective on industry attitudes, media technology and media relationships in this transitional moment.