Radio 4 listeners are notoriously reluctant to embrace any sort of change. So what exactly are they going to make of the station's new logo, part of a £120,000 rebrand of the BBC's radio idents?
The new logos are being rolled out across the corporation this week. Out goes Radio 4's blocky three-dimensional figure "4", casting a giant shadow behind it, and in comes a resolutely two-dimensional numeral with a single quote mark in the middle of it. I'm not keen, but then I wouldn't - I'm a Radio 4 listener and I don't like change.
Radio 3 gets a similarly radical makeover, with the number "3" incorporating part of a bass clef. Very clever. BBC7 attempts to incorporate one half of a smiley face but ends up looking like someone's kneecap. I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see that one.
Radio 1 and Radio 2 are simple by comparision, as is the rather '80s looking Radio 5 Live logo and its sister sorts station, Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. The new logo for the Asian Network looks just plain odd. What is that supposed to be across the middle of it?
I'm still not keen on Radio 4, but overall I quite like them, not that they will make a great deal of difference to the on-air listening experience.
They are certainly a big improvement on the ragbag of logos they replace - do you remember the old Radio 3? It makes the London 2012 Olympics logo look almost coherent.
I like the different colours too, and the circles design which is common to all 10 of them, like a set of snooker balls. Whether they really justify the £120,000 budget commanded by design company Fallon, I'm not so sure.
You can check out how the new idents compare with BBC Radio logos down the ages by clicking here. Which ones did you grow up with?
Much more entertaining than the logos themselves are the explanations that go with them. Take Radio 4 - please! - and these illuminating words in the BBC's in-house magazine, Ariel. "Quote mark references speech radio," it explains. With you so far. "Keeps mature listeners happy but feels more contemporary." Eh?
And this on Radio Five Live Sports Extra: "Rebranded in green that people associate with sport." Ah, yes, of course. What else do people associate with sport? A load of balls.
