I received a lot of queries on social media last week asking why the game between Rangers and Hibs wasn’t televised live, and frankly, that’s a very good question.

From the outside looking in, it is puzzling. You would think that a game like that between two of our biggest clubs, a repeat of the Scottish Cup final which Hibs won right at the death, is a game we should want to sell to the wider public.

But I’ve got real sympathy with the television decision makers on this one, because under the current TV agreement in Scotland, there was almost no way they could have taken a chance on showing it.

At the moment, their hands are tied in terms of how often they can show games from Ibrox or Celtic Park. At present, you can only show Celtic and Rangers four times each at home in the league. Obviously, the matches between the sides are always going to be shown, so it leaves only two other slots per team. If the Rangers vs Hibs game had been selected, that would leave only one other occasion that TV could show Rangers at home this season.

Come the business end of the campaign after the split, or even just before it, there are crucial games involving clubs who are competing either for silverware or for places in Europe.

It would have taken a very brave person, and it would have been Sky in this case as they hold all the cards in terms of going to Ibrox or Celtic Park in the league, to say that they would take the Hibs game and then potentially run into trouble later in the season.

You may remember that Gordon Strachan had something to say about this when he was the Celtic manager. He was baffled as to why big games his side had against the likes of Hearts or Aberdeen weren’t on TV, whereas Celtic playing at a smaller ground such as Hamilton, which is the example he used, was shown. He didn’t feel Scottish football was putting its’ best image forward.

Believe it or not, this is a legacy from the television deal that was thrashed out many years ago going back to around 2012, and now nothing can be done about it until 2020.

It’s something that has to be addressed when the renewal comes up, and clubs have the power here because they have to approve the deal.

Maybe instead of automatically screening every game Celtic and Rangers have away from home, we think about the greater good of Scottish football and ask ourselves; what are the games we would want live on TV?

I would say that every time Celtic and Rangers play our other big clubs, which in terms of support are the two Edinburgh clubs and Aberdeen, it should be live on TV.

There will probably be season ticket holders who wouldn’t be happy about that, because they want games to be at three o’clock on a Saturday, but it’s the only way to build the wider interest.