BBC iPlayer will stop working on some of Virgin’s TV boxes in a matter of weeks, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
The telecoms giant has been informing affected customers about the changes that are due to take place on July 23.
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Those impacted are being offered a free upgrade to a newer Virgin Media box.
The firm says it has written directly to customers who have accessed BBC iPlayer in the last six months.
Only a small portion are expected to be affected due to the TV box’s age.
The boxes affected are the older TiVo models – V6 and Virgin TV 360 boxes will continue to offer access to BBC iPlayer as normal.
Read more about Virgin Media
Virgin Media has been trying to move people along to newer kit for sometime now.
But loss of support for BBC iPlayer to catch up on favourites like EastEnders, as well as watching boxsets, might tempt more people to switch.
“We have written directly to the small proportion of customers with a TiVo box, who have used BBC iPlayer within the past six months, to inform them that their box will not support iPlayer from 23 July,” Virgin Media told The Sun.
“As we have previously communicated directly to relevant customers, anyone with a TiVo box is able to upgrade to a new Virgin TV 360 box at no extra cost.”
Virgin TV 360, which launched in 2020, is the company’s most recent cable TV device with access to more entertainment apps and personalisation.
The first TiVo-powered box hit the scene ten years earlier in 2010.
WHY DOES TECH STOP WORKING?
By Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
It’s annoying when tech and gadgets are discontinued, rendering some features useless.
Fortunately, companies have got better at lengthening how long they support kit.
It tends to only happen after quite a few years have passed and the user numbers have dropped quite low.
The truth of the matter is, firms have to keep updating and servicing this older tech which costs them money.
When there’s only a small number of people left using them older gadgets, it’s harder to justify the cost.
Moreover, new features on things like apps may not work on dated kit.
So ultimately, in the end support is dropped for these gadgets so all their energy, money and time can be put into the newer ones.
