TELEVISION is the drug of the nation, breeding ignorance and feeding radiation.

So said everyone’s favourite socialist hip-hop act Disposable Heroes of Hypophrisy, which I’m fairly certain you were unaware of.

The Disposables, as they have never been called, vented against capitalism, racism and of course the role and influence television – moving wallpaper Clive James called it – had over the masses.

I’m not sure exactly what members Michael Franti and Rono Tse are up to these days but word reaches me that they have very strong views on Kris Commons’s punditry.

The song came out in 1992 just when Sky Sports began it’s takeover of English football. This week the broadcaster flexed its considerable financial muscle to secure the exclusive rights to the SPFL Premiership for anything between £100m and £160m over five years, starting from 2020.

It sounds a right good deal to be fair but without seeing the specific figures it’s hard to draw an absolute conclusion. Our games needs money. We all know that. Celtic might be able to boast contributing £160m a year to the economy but three Premiership clubs have the unpopular artificial pitches because it makes financial sense, players in the top tier could make more in English non-league football and almost no club outside the obvious few pay money, one or two exceptions aside, in transfers.

So, well done Sky Sports. Evil though you may be, and that’s the view of many, at least this lot are investing in our game just like those bad bookmakers. Hey, if they all went away we would be in some state.

BT Sport made a “derisory” offer which was thrown out quicker than Willie Collum can book a player for smiling. A shame, really, because they have been a breath of fresh air but having spent so much on their European deal, it seems the SPFL was something they were willing to let go.

Coincidently, last Friday night in one of the Southside of Glasgow’s better watering holes, I bumped into Gerry McNee, the self-appointed appointed voice of football, who for many years informed, annoyed, and entertained us on the box.

Whether you agreed with him or not, and most never, Gerry was really good telly. He has something to say, was never afraid to ruffle feathers and watching him joust with the late Ian Archer and others made Scotsport unmissable. Would it be so ‘backwards’ to borrow some ideas from the past?

BT Sport isn’t unmissable. If it were then far more would subscribe. However, Chris Sutton. Ally McCoist, Michael Stewart and Stephen Craigan are good fun. They also care about the game in Scotland, as do the people behind the scenes.

Which brings us to something else derisory, and that is Sky’s coverage of our game, which from 2020 at the latest has to be better; starting with getting the names of the teams right.

How about a proper highlight show? You have the rights so there is no reason not to have a look back, say, at the start of the next week. Our own Monday night football would be worth watching.

Get in better pundits and please give them more than a few minutes before and after a game, plus a brief chat at half-time, to dissect what has happened. Don’t allow any English pundit, I’m looking at you Merson, to talk about the SPFL when he clearly treats it with utter disdain.

It does look as if we are stuck with only four home games being shown live every season, something I’ve whined about many times in this column, but if there is any chance of changing this then please do.

I’d rather watch Hearts v Aberdeen, Celtic v Hearts, Rangers v Hearts than one of the Old Firm at Livingston, Hamilton or an empty McDiarmid Park or Rugby Park. We are trying to showcase Scottish football, after all.

I want to see more people at actual games. For me, I’d take a reduced deal if it promised better coverage of our best games – and that does not means Celtic or Rangers every week – for less live games. However, if television is our master then the product must be better. I mean, why spend £160m on anything and then not give it another thought.