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THE BBC have hit back at criticism for dropping the Championship from Sportscene and pointed the finger at Sky Sports and BT Sport for the second tier snub from their highlights show.

Ayr United boss Ian McCall called for a rethink as Scottish football fans slammed the broadcaster and accused them of a lack of interest now that Rangers are back in the top flight.

The Light Blues had featured in the Beeb’s weekly highlights programme during life in the lower leagues but there was no Championship football shown on the new Sunday primetime slot.

However, the BBC are only permitted to show footage of games covered by the main live TV rights holders - Sky and BT - as well as the 16 live Championship and League One games they are contracted to show themselves on BBC Alba.

And that left them unable to screen Championship highlights on Sunday. In a statement, BBC bosses said: “The Sportscene Highlights programme has historically concentrated solely on the top tier of Scottish football.

“In this respect it mirrors the remit of Match of The Day. From the start of season 2012/2013, the SPL and SFL, at the behest of the live subscription broadcasters, offered a temporary extension of existing television rights deals to allow for coverage of a number of games in the lower leagues.

“These matches were selected by SKY or BT, and BBC Scotland was able to access the footage for our highlights programme. This extension of the rights deal ended last season and our contract has now reverted to one that only allows us to broadcast television highlights of games played in the Scottish Premiership and either provided to us by the SPFL or taken from SKY and BT live games.

“BBC Alba will continue to carry 16 live Championship/League One games this season and we will continue to report on lower league matches on radio, online, and across our sports news outlets.”