TV licence-payers have voiced their outrage after it emerged the BBC will be completely axing one of its iPlayer apps for cost reasons.
The corporation announced it would be canning the desktop BBC iPlayer Downloads app last month, with users unable to download programmes from the web from tomorrow, March 11, before it shuts down for good in April.
A BBC spokesperson told GB News the move was a “difficult decision”, but said the Beeb would be pressing ahead with the decommissioning “due to the low number of people using it and the cost required to keep it going”.
When it was first announced in February, ex-BBC journalist Robert Rea said: “This strikes me as a very bad move. Why would you want to make it harder to watch your programmes?”
Commenters questioned "which BBC idiot or incompetent committee came up with this decision"
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But with its download deadline set to come into force tomorrow, users have taken aim at the BBC for its “appalling” decision.
One social media user said: “I DO NOT want to peer at a tiny mobile screen with poor sound quality to watch a film/drama/wildlife programme, etc., originally produced in HD.
“Which BBC idiot or incompetent committee came up with this decision? With this withdrawal of features in mind, I will definitely support any move to refuse an increase in the BBC’s licence fee.”
Another said: “What sort of people do the BBC employ to come up with this idiocy?
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The BBC came under fire from iPlayer users, who slammed the move as discriminatory
GETTY/BBC“Have they actually tried watching programmes on a telephone screen or considered those of us who do not even have smartphones or tablets?”
Despite the BBC’s claims of a small user base, the commenter continued: “Also, an increasing number of people view solely on a PC or laptop… Those people will now be excluded from the BBC TV audience.”
While another slammed the move as discriminatory, asking: “Why are tablet and phone users offered a superior service?”
Despite the demise of the PC and Mac downloader app, the BBC insisted its mobile app’s download function, as well as its desktop-based streaming service, would not be affected.
The news of the latest BBC cuts follows reports that the corporation is planning to bump up the licence fee from £159 to £169 per year.
Speaking to GB News’ Peter Andre and Ellie Costello, broadcaster Esther Stanhope said: “I think the BBC is a bit like a child that's entitled to money.
“It's been getting all this free money, and now – because it's always had free money – it wants to carry on having money… I don’t really think the BBC can justify putting people in jail if they don’t pay.”
GB News has approached the BBC for comment.