JIM'LL Fix It is coming back to our screens this Christmas in a desperate bid by the BBC to win back the satellite TV generation.

The Beeb is struggling to keep its head above water as Sky continues to spawn channel after channel. There's something for everyone - the shopaholic, the religious maniac, the pervert ... and that's just the Richard and Judy show.

The future is ... the past. Nostalgia is the new saviour. Dr Who has made a comeback, Mr Benn is out on DVD this week, and Jimmy Carr has been unveiled as the new Jim who will fix it for kids trying to blag a free trip to Lapland.

But none of this papers over the cracks appearing in an organisation that continues to squander our licence money ... and then has the audacity to ask for more.

Tomorrow, European competitions commissioner Neelie Kroes will make her decision on the future of televised football in this country.

She is expected to rule that the Premier League must make live football between 2007 and 2010 available to more than one channel, in effect ending Sky's monopoly on Premiership games.

EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said: "The commission wants viewers and football fans to enjoy more choice and better value."

Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, met with Kroes in Brussels this week, and if his proposal is accepted, at least one package of 28 live matches will be up for grabs for terrestial TV stations.

It will spark a bidding war like never before.

ITV have already expressed an interest, keen on adding to their Champions League portfolio.

The BBC is expected to join the race - but should it be allowed to spend our licence money on a market that is already saturated and shrinking?

Last weekend, its flagship football show - Match of the Day - featured Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in thrilling games. Yet, the average audience was below four million.

That's compared to an average of 12 million viewers in the 1970s when Jimmy Hill presented the programme. For many of my generation, Match of the Day was the highlight of the weekend. Now, it barely gets a look-in.

MOTD is suffering from the impact of the Sky revolution, and ironically by its agreement to allow the satellite channel to screen its interactive Football First programme before the BBC show starts.

That means fans can watch 50 minute highlight packages of their own team on Sky instead of waiting up to an hour for an eight-minute round-up on MOTD.

Blackburn fans are the biggest victims. Almost weekly, their highlights are last on the list, and it's often past midnight when Rovers are screened. Last weekend, even though they were at Anfield, MOTD still showed their match highlights last.

So it's no surprise that Rovers fans turn to Sky instead of waiting up until the witching hour for Lineker and Hansen.

I applaud the proposal to end Sky's monopoly, but not at the expense of the licence payer.

We have enough live football on the telly, and it would be irresponsible for the BBC to spend so much of our money on more of the same.

Besides, who needs it when Jim'll Fix It is coming back.