The BBC has altered the way its newsreaders brand the corporation's radio news bulletins in an effort to reinforce the BBC News brand.

The move, which comes just days before an expected cross-platform merger of the BBC's news teams, has resulted in phrases such as "BBC Radio 4, the news at two o'clock" being replaced with "BBC News on Radio 4, it's two o'clock". All bulletins are now concluded in the style "BBC News for Radio 4" instead of "BBC Radio 4 News".

In a blog post, the corporation's head of radio news Stephen Mitchell set out to explain the changes: "These are small changes, but we know that the familiar rhythms of our broadcasts are valued by listeners. We don't change them lightly. The reason we've chosen to do it here is that the audience is now consuming BBC News across a wider variety of channels and platforms than ever before. The advice we were given was that we needed to simplify the identity of BBC News, given that it's such a trusted and central part of what the BBC offers, and to make it as recognisable as possible across all the services we offer."

He added: "When a bulletin has been produced by BBC News, it's sensible and reasonable to tell people it's been produced by BBC News."