news was not provided by the individual companies and was instead provided by Independent Television News (ITN). Each regional service had its own on-screen identity to distinguish it from other regions, since there was often a sizeable overlap in reception capability within each region. Upon the creation of the network, six franchises were awarded for London, the Midlands and the North of England with separate franchises for weekdays and the weekends. The companies in these regions were known as 'The Big Four' and consisted of Associated-Rediffusion (London weekday), ATV (Midlands weekday and London weekend), Granada Television (North of England weekday) and ABC (North of England and Midlands weekend). These companies were generally the best known and provided the most network output. Launch The first ITA contractor to begin broadcasting was the London weekday contractor Associated-Rediffusion, on 22 September 1955 beginning at 7.15pm. On the first night of telecasts, the BBC, who had held the monopoly on broadcasting in Britain, aired a melodramatic episode of their popular radio soap opera The Archers on the BBC Home Service (later became BBC Radio 4 in 1967). In the episode, core character Grace Archer was fatally injured in a fire, and it was seen as a ploy to keep loyal viewers and listeners away from the new station. The first full day of transmissions was 23 September 1955 when Britain's first female newsreader Barbara Mandell appeared. The London weekend contractor ATV launched two days later. The other franchises launched within a year of the London launch, and other contracts were awarded by the ITA between 1956 and 1961. All the franchises had launched by September 1962: ITV was admitted as an active member of the European Broadcasting Union through the Independent Television Companies' Association Ltd together with the ITA on 1 January 1960. 1964–1968 In 1963, the ITA chairman, Lord Hill of Luton, initiated a review of all the ITV companies following the release of the Pilkington Report, which saw the launch of BBC2 and heavily criticised ITV. This review would review a company's performance, and either grant them an extension to their service licence or replace the company with another in that region. This process was repeated frequently throughout the early life of ITV and lasted approximately ten years. Reviews like this also ensured that the companies maintained their high performance by maintaining the possibility of the loss of their licence. The new