BBC, the British terrestrial network, has won back the rights to one of the most prized sporting spectacles on British television, the University Boat Race. The incumbent broadcaster ITV ditched the deal without making an offer citing high production costs. The BBC is believed to have paid nothing for the rights but will cover US$1 million cost of broadcasting the event.

The annual rowing event in which crews from Britain's oldest universities, Oxford and Cambridge, compete over the course along London's Thames, will return to the BBC in 2010 after a six-year absence. The BBC lost the rights in 2004 to rival network ITV, who will show the race for the last time this March.

The new five-year-deal means the BBC will broadcast the event on television and radio as well as through the BBC Sport website, BBC iPlayer and BBC World. The race between two coxed eight-man boats is one of the top five televised sporting events in Britain with audiences in the region of nine million. The race is also broadcast in 113 countries worldwide.

Roger Mosey, BBC Director of Sport, said: "The Boat Race is one of the landmarks of the sporting year, and it’s a national event by many millions. We’re extremely pleased that it’s coming back to the BBC alongside other great British occasions such as Wimbledon, the Grand National and the London Marathon." 

The BBC first broadcast the 180-year old race - which is precisely four miles 374 yard long - on radio in 1927 and first televised it in 1938.

Giles Vardey, chairman of Boat Race Company Limited, the rights owner, said of the deal: "We are extremely pleased to have secured a long-term agreement with the BBC, which we expect will mean even greater profile for the race across the Corporation’s multi-media networks.

"We punch our weight in viewing figures alongside events like the FA Cup and Wimbledon. We must be doing something right."

In March 2008, Oxford won the 154th University Boat Race, their third win in four years although Cambridge still narrowly lead the total number of races held - by 79 to 74.