DavidM said:
The BBC just cannot afford top level sport.
Top level sport costs more and more money and a terrestrial TV station without advertising is going to seriously struggle to fund the money it takes to buy the TV rights.
Taken from the BARB website for BBC1 viewing figures, a typical Saturday night:
Strictly 11.78m viewers
Merlin 7.32m viewers
Casualty 5.18m viewers
MOTD 4.22m viewers
Some weeks it does not even figure in the top 30 programmes on BBC1!
Even Countryfile with 7.75m and Antiques Roadshow with 6.57m get more viewers.
You cannot compare MOTD's ratings with ''Strictly'' (fucking hate that term)
One is on early evening for a ''family audience'', the other on at 10.30pm aimed at blokes sat watching with a few beers and teen kids too young to get in a pub.