Grade, who is also chairman of the BBC, said: "To be fair the board took the decision against the background of an annual budget that was based on a third-round exit. But so many more live TV games have featured acres of empty rows of seats this season and this has been the first high-profile move to address the problem of the missing fans."
"One reason why so many other sports have failed to attract major TV exposure is the lack of atmosphere caused by half-filled venues. So after drawing the home tie with Boro, our chief executive Peter Varney suggested investing half of the live TV replay fee in free and subsidised transport for fans. The board readily agreed."
Addicks fans not going to up to Teeside today can catch Match of the Day Live on BBC1 from 8pm.