The FA Cup passes a little-known but telling milestone on Monday leading up to Friday’s start of the fourth round. It will be 10 years to the day since Manchester United beat Exeter 2-0 at St James’ Park in a third-round replay live on BBC1 – the start of a remarkable unbroken sequence of United’s FA Cup ties being selected by TV companies for live coverage.

In 2005 viewers watched Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney score against the Conference side to spare Sir Alex Ferguson’s blushes after a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. Friday’s trip to Cambridge, of League Two, will be their 44th consecutive TV tie, with Rooney the sole survivor from 19 January 2005.

The unbroken run of appearances compares with Arsenal’s 38 out of 46 ties televised during a period in which they won the cup twice, and Chelsea’s 37 from 55, during which they won it four times.

The search for ratings over the much-quoted “magic of the cup” has often been controversial, depriving some smaller clubs of income. This year’s televised third round ties – which included Arsenal v Hull City – earned clubs £144,000.

United’s trip to Cambridge has also put the spotlight on the home side’s effort to maximise ticket revenue. Away fans have complained about prices being raised from £19 to £30, while Cambridge staff attacked a decision to charge them for entry. However, chairman Dave Doggett told The Cambridge News it was the only fair way to deal with the demand for seats. “All employees, full-time, part-time, volunteers, directors or anybody associated with the club, are paying. I have got one ticket in the boardroom, and everybody in the ground will be purchasing one.

“One or two members of staff have said they can’t afford it, and I’ve offered to loan them the money. I’ve just tried to be fair across the board.”

A decade on TV

United’s unbroken FA Cup run on TV shows the changing landscape of televised football, with the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, Setanta, ESPN and BT Sport all involved:

2005: Exeter (a, replay) BBC, Middlesbrough (h) BBC, Everton (a) BBC, Southampton (a) BBC, Newcastle (n) BBC, Arsenal (n, final) BBC;

2006: Burton (a) Sky, Burton (h) BBC, Wolves (a) Sky, Liverpool (a) BBC;

2007: A Villa (h) BBC, Portsmouth (h) BBC, Reading (h); BBC, (a, replay) BBC, M’boro (a) BBC, (h, replay); Sky, Watford (n) BBC, Chelsea (n, final) BBC/Sky;

2008: A Villa (a) BBC, Tottenham (h) BBC, Arsenal (h) BBC, Portsmouth (h) Sky;

2009: Southampton (a) Setanta, Tottenham (h) ITV, Derby (a) ITV, Fulham (a) ITV, Everton (n) ITV;

2010: Leeds (h) ITV;

2011: Liverpool (h) ITV, Southampton (a) ITV, Crawley (h) ITV, Arsenal (h) ITV, Man City (n) ITV;

2012: Man City (a) ITV, Liverpool (a) ITV;

2013: West Ham (a) ITV, (h, replay) ITV, Fulham (h) ESPN, Reading (h) ESPN, Chelsea (h) ITV, (a, replay) ITV;

2014: Swansea (h) BT Sport; 2015 Yeovil (a) BT Sport, Cambridge (a) BBC