BBC retains rights to Premier League highlights

As part of the deal, MOTD2 will be available on the BBC iPlayer every Tuesday from 8.10pm.

The League has yet to award its prized live TV rights, currently shared between Setanta and BSkyB. In May 2006, Setanta broke BSkyB's monopoly of live Premier League football matches, winning the rights to show 46 matches per season from 2007. But BSkyB held on to 92 live matches, including the "A" package of games on late Sunday afternoons.

The live TV rights auction generated £1.7bn ($3.1bn) for the Premier League, with BSkyB paying £1.3bn and Setanta £392m.

Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore said: "The BBC's commitment to the Premier League, the clubs and their fans has been an undoubted success.

"The free-to-air highlights are a critical part of the Premier League's broadcast presence, helping the competition and our clubs reach the maximum domestic audience possible, and we are pleased to see our relationship continue."

Writing in a blog this afternoon (Wednesday), Roger Mosey, director of BBC Sport, said the BBC had paid roughly same as it did for its current contract. "As for the price, it's level with our current contract. But more people are watching, it has a richer mix of rights, and it's still below what ITV paid for Premier League highlights in 2000," he said.

In June 2006, the BBC won the rights to show Premier League highlights from 2007 until 2010, paying £171.6m for the three-year period.