THE BBC has been flooded with a record 100,000 complaints about the wall to wall coverage of Prince Philip’s death, The Sun can reveal.
The Beeb tore up its usual schedule after news of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death broke shortly after noon on Friday.
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Over the next 24 hours, the BBC’s telly and radio channels laid on a string of special programmes chronicling Philip’s life.
But many viewers were left fuming after their favourite shows – including the MasterChef final – were ditched so special tribute programmes could be laid on.
The coverage has become the most complained about television event in British history.
The previous record was the BBC’s screening of Jerry Springer: The Musical which sparked 63,000 complaints in 2005.
One insider told The Sun: “I feel sorry for the Beeb.
“They would be criticised and accused of not being respectful enough if they didn’t lay the programmes on.
“But they seem to have left many people very cross.”
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So many angry telly fans contacted to moan about the constant coverage the BBC put a special form on their website to make it easier to process the gripes.
The form is only used when the Corporation deals with a large number of complaints.
Among the moaners was ex Labour MP Chris Mullins, a junior minister under Tony Blair, who hit out at the “North Korea style” tributes.
Former BBC newsreader Simon McCoy also stuck the boot into the identical coverage across the Beeb’s channels.
He tweeted: “BBC1 and BBC2 showing the same thing. And presumably the News Channel too. Why?
“I know this is a huge event. But surely the public deserve a choice of programming?”
Millions of usually loyal BBC viewers switched off to escape the tributes.
BBC Two’s viewing figures reportedly fell by a whopping 64 per cent compared to the previous Friday.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “We are proud of our coverage and the role we play during moments of national significance.”
The BBC said they will publish the number of complaints they received this Thursday.
