Popular American cartoons Family Guy and American Dad are both set to disappear from British television sets as BBC3 away from televisions and onto the Internet exclusively. What’s more, licensing and rights issues prevent The BBC from offering these shows on the iPlayer.

Family GuyStewie isn't delighted with the BBC's decision (still from S12E06)

Basically, you won’t be able to watch Family Guy and American dad late at night any more – on your TV anyway. "We will be speaking to all our suppliers, following last week's announcement," a BBC spokesperson said. "However, at the moment due to rights issues, we are unable to make Family Guy or American Dad available on BBC iPlayer."

The reaction to this news on Twitter, as you can expect, wasn’t exactly positive, with many pointing out that even if the shows were available online, it was the scheduled TV aspect that got people into the habit of watching. Director of BBC Television Danny Cohen posted: "Family Guy and American Dad are so important to BBC Three. We plan to continue showing them."

But fans of the show shouldn’t be too dismayed. With the reaction reaching the news (like this), other networks will surely cotton on and order the rights from FOX to air episodes at a similar time in The U.K. Our guess would be Channel 4, who currently the Family Guy spin off, The Cleveland Show.

American DadAmerican Dad has emerged as a favourite on BBC3

The decision to demote BBC3 from TVs comes as The BBC faces cuts in 2016. They’re not giving up on original comedy, though, and in a move designed to make the iPlayer more like Netflix – the popular on-demand content streaming service – more comedies have been commissioned from popular British talents.