The Gardeners' World Blog

So Match Of The Day stays on BBC One on Saturday night until at least May 2010. Today the FA Premier League awarded the new contract for highlights to the BBC in a deal which means we have four more seasons of showing every goal and all the key action from the Premiership.

We're obviously delighted. The day before the start of the World Cup it's good news for BBC audiences that we have not just the World Cup tournaments from now until 2014 but also a major stake in the success story of the Premier League. Around 7 million people each weekend watch either Match Of The Day on BBC One or the re-run on Sunday morning and MOTD2 on BBC Two on Sunday night. Over a season, well over half the UK population see some of the programmes.

But sports rights do come at a price...