BBC Two of competition since ITV's launch in 1955, and both had aimed for a populist approach in response. The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and that ITV lacked any serious programming. It therefore decided that Britain's third television station should be awarded to the BBC. Prior to its launch, the new BBC2 was promoted on the BBC Television Service: the soon to be renamed BBC1. The animated adverts featured the campaign mascots "Hullabaloo", a mother kangaroo, and "Custard", her joey. Prior to, and several years after, the channel's formal launch, the channel broadcast "Trade Test Transmissions",
BBC Two Launch ident based. BBC1 and BBC News were unaffected as they were still based at Alexandra Palace. The first signs of the new identity were slides containing the BBC2 box logo with the caption 'Will start shortly'. The first night's transmission consisted of this slide interspersed with new bulletins, presented by Gerald Priestland, from the news room at Alexandra Palace, which featured the new logo in the background. At 10pm, the launch night was abandoned and the programme line-up was aired the following evening. The first programme aired was "Play School" at 11am. Prior to the launch, the channel was represented by