THE BBC are to pay the Premier League a massive �10m to maintain their coverage of football on Radio Five Live for the next two seasons. The previous contract cost the BBC just �500,000 a year, while the new deal will cost them �5m a year - an incredible ten-fold increase. Premier League executives brought negotiations forward after Talk Radio made it clear they were preparing a lucrative offer for the exclusive contract which was due to expire next summer. In an effort to avoid a bidding war, Radio Five decided to renew the contract a year ahead of schedule and the new deal will now run until 2001. The deal does not include, however, rights to FA Cup, Coca Cola Cup or European club matches but Tony Hall, chief executive of BBC news which runs Radio Five, says that this is "excellent news for the licence fee payer". "Listeners are now guaranteed free access to coverage by the BBC of our national sport," he said. "This reflects the BBC's continuing commitment to bringing major sporting events to the British public." The radio station was hardly warmly welcomed when it was first launched in March 1994 and, as recently as last summer, audience ratings were falling alarmingly. But in the last 12 months, Five Live has experienced a dramatic turn-around in fortunes, achieving its highest ever audience ratings (5.6 million) after winning the Station Of The Year at the Sony Radio Awards.

SCOTS CLINCH �45m SKY TV DEAL   THE new Scottish Premiership has clinched a record-breaking �45m deal with Sky Sports to broadcast 30 live matches a year from next season. Inevitably, it will mean a break with the traditional football Saturday. The four-year deal will start in August and feature live coverage on Sunday evenings, after Sky's coverage of English Nationwide League and FA Carling Premiership matches. The Scottish Premiership games will kick off at 6.05pm and will include three out of four Old Firm matches per season. The new league's acting Chief Executive, Robert Wilson, also confirmed that each of the new top 10 clubs will enjoy at least one visit from the Sky cameras per season. Talks between the new Premiership and Sky have been on-going since before the new set-up was officially given the green light and the deal represents a huge financial boost for the game in Scotland. Aberdeen's executive chairman Stewart Milne, who was involved in the lengthy financial negotiations, insisted the new league could now proceed with its objective of raising the profile of the game north of the border. "We believe that this deal is the best possible for Scottish football," he said. "The overall package put on the table by Sky, with their superb track-record in promoting the game, represented the best option for building a strong profile for the Scottish Premier League.� Rangers� chairman David Murray, a prime mover behind the new breakaway league, was also in buoyant mood after the deal was finally concluded, saying: "This is a fantastic deal for Scottish football and justifies our confidence in the value of the game in Scotland. We have worked hard to balance the best interests of the regular paying supporter and the armchair fan, while at the same time maximising the revenue coming into the game."

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