In cricket the BBC has retained domestic Test matches and the NatWest

In cricket, the BBC has retained domestic Test matches and the NatWest Trophy. It did not even pitch for one-day internationals or the Benson and Hedges Cup, which are now the property of the satellite broadcaster.Likewise, the BBC was not prepared to go the extra furlong to retain Cheltenham racing, wrested by Channel 4 last year for pounds 3m, five times the previous price and a figure described at the time as staggering by Jonathan Martin, the BBC's head of sport.The news that the BBC is considering lobbying the Government this autumn to ensure that terrestrial broadcasters have access to highlights at the very least is a further indication that with flat income, it cannot afford to remain caught up in the hyperinflationary spiral.A far more serious concern lies in restricting mass-participation sports such as football and cricket to exclusive coverage on minority channels and then charging the viewing public for it.Four million households now have access to Sky in Britain, three million of which subscribe to Sky Sports for pounds 14.99 a month. "The BBC can't afford to fund sports rights rising at anything like the rate they are now."The price of clinging on to Five Nations rugby, the cornerstone of the now-creaking Grandstand, for three more years was pounds 27m - three times what it paid last time - and having to go along with BSkyB's entry into coverage of the domestic game. Unable to match Murdoch's millions, terrestrial TV's best hopes lie in shared coverage and access to secondary rights via delayed transmission or highlights.The BBC seems to be more reconciled to this fate, at least if Mr Birt's utterings are anything to go by "One thing is certain," he says. Bar a few notable exceptions, the days of exclusive live coverage of sport will be consigned to that golden age of TV when Blue Peter was fronted by Val, John and Peter. In return, the league landed pounds 77m last April.A new reality is dawning on terrestrial broadcasters.

The price for English Rugby League was ripping up 100 years of history, reorganising itself into a European superleague with merged clubs, and switching to a summer season to suit the broadcaster. Egged on by a Government keen to see a free market in broadcasting, the satellite channels - in particular, Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB - have embarked on a spending spree to snap up exclusive rights to national sporting events: overseas cricket Tests since 1990, premiership football since 1992, the Ryder Cup later this year.The buyouts are revolutionising the way events are covered, and reshaping the sports. Summer gave way to autumn with the arrival of Match of the Day; the damp weeks of January and February came alive with Five Nations rugby on Grandstand; coverage of the Wimbledon fortnight heralded warm summer rain.But that is history, and the conventional wisdom governing four decades of televised sport is in shreds. There would be national mourning if a lot of sports went off the BBC."There was a time when televised sport, particularly on the BBC, was so ingrained in the minds of the nation that it marked the season. As John Birt, director-general of the BBC, told the Independent: "Sport is a vital part of what we do, vitally appreciated by our viewers. Ask Marcus Plantin, network director of ITV, who proudly boasted that its Rugby World Cup coverage was watched by 90 per cent of ABC1 men.

Witness the frenzied bidding between the BBC, ITV, BSkyB and Channel 4 when a sport is up for grabs, or the unseemly scrap for Trevor East, outgoing head of ITV Sport, safely tucked up this week as News International's executive director of sport with responsibility for developing BSkyB's portfolio in the northern hemisphere. Sport counts, make no mistake. Multi-million-pound transfer deals, cash payments and big audience draws And that's even before you get to the players. Sport today is dominated as much by TV rights deals as it is by the grace and gifts of its participants. It's a messy business, sport.

They have just signed up Gunslinger Barbecue Sauce from Kraft Foods for several spots.. For instance, Disney's Discovery Channel next month plans to film the exhumation of the Old West outlaw Jesse James (above left), who was supposedly shot to death in 1882. A group of forensic lawyers doubt the story, and they have won permission to dig up the gunslinger's bones and test them for bullets That's where the Discovery Channel comes in. That's the name of the US TV game, and building an audience seems to call for ever wilder stunts in order to attract advertisers. Last week, sensing a slight breeze, he slathered gel over his hair before presenting a spot about bee-keeping. The hive was 50ftaway from Limric's position, but it seems bees really go for hair gel Within seconds his head was swarming. The beekeeper Irv Pfeiffer and camerawoman Dao Vu tried to brush the bees away.

Pfeiffer eventually slammed a protective hood over Limric's head; sadly, the hood itself was full of bees. Limric received multiple stings and had to be treated in hospital. The irony is that KVEW TV's news director, Tom Spencer, had almost killed the story, thinking it was not very exciting "I guess I was wrong," says Spencer now.Ratings, ratings. Just imagine the relief ...Some American TV presenters douse their hair with so much spray it makes their locks stand still even as hurricanes blow nearby This can have its dangers, as Michael Limric discovered Limric is a reporter at KVEW TV in Seattle. Simmons' next move may be a writ to ban further showings of Morphin movies or TV shows and a ban on Morphin merchandise sales. He says his characters could morph and their motto was "Be the best you can be." The Power Rangers motto is "Be the best person that you can be."The Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole has seen the complaint and asked the US Department of Justice to investigate. They might get some help from a former FBI agent called Herbert Simmons, who says he created the Rangers more than 20 years ago.