Timeline of darts on UK television facts for kids

A timeline of how the game of darts has been shown on television in the UK.

Darts on TV: The Early Years (1970s)

Darts first appeared on British TV in 1962, but it was a local show. Ten years later, in 1972, darts was shown across the whole country for the first time! This happened when ITV broadcast parts of the News of the World Darts Championship as part of its World of Sport programme.

The Birth of TV Darts: The Indoor League

• 1973
  • On April 5, a show called The Indoor League started on ITV. This programme featured different indoor games, including a darts tournament for both men and women. Many people say this show was the "birthplace of television darts" because it made the sport popular on TV.

Major Tournaments Begin on TV

• 1974
  • On August 31, ITV showed the very first World Masters tournament. ITV continued to show this big event until 1988.
  • The BBC also started showing darts for the first time this year, covering the British Open tournament.

• 1977
  • Anglia Television started broadcasting the first Butlins Grand Masters tournament. Anglia TV showed this event until 1986.

• 1978
  • From February 6 to 10, the BBC showed highlights of the first-ever BDO World Darts Championship. This became a very important event for darts on TV.
  • On April 7, The Indoor League aired for the last time after six successful series.
  • The BBC also showed the first BDO Gold Cup tournament.

Changes in the 1980s

• 1981
  • The BBC expanded its darts coverage, showing the first British Professional Championship. They continued to show this event until 1988.

• 1982
  • The BBC showed the BDO Gold Cup for the last time.

• 1984
  • The Butlins Grand Masters and the British Matchplay tournaments lost most of their TV coverage this year.

Darts Almost Disappears from TV

• 1988
  • During the summer, the BBC announced they would stop showing almost all darts, except for the World Championships.
  • In October, ITV also announced they would stop showing darts. The last event they showed was the World Masters.

• 1989
  • From January 6 to 14, the only darts tournament shown on regular TV was the 1989 BDO World Darts Championship. It was a quiet year for darts on screen!

Darts Finds New Homes (1990s)

• 1990
  • Even though only one tournament was on regular TV, some darts events, like the World Masters, were shown on a new channel called The Sports Channel, which was part of British Satellite Broadcasting. This was a new way for people to watch sports.

• 1991
  • Sky Sports started broadcasting the World Masters. They showed it again in 1992.

The Big Split in Darts

• 1992
  • Sky Sports made a deal with a new group called the World Darts Council. This group later became known as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Sky agreed to show three of their tournaments.

• 1993
  • After a big disagreement in the world of darts, known as the Split in darts, Sky Sports stopped showing tournaments from the BDO.
  • A cable channel called Wire TV broadcast the World Masters darts tournament. They also showed it in 1994.
  • On December 26, Sky Sports covered the first-ever PDC World Darts Championship. Sky has shown this event every year since then!

More New Tournaments on Sky

• 1994
  • Wire TV also showed the BDO Gold Cup in 1994 and 1995.
  • From August 1 to 8, Sky Sports broadcast the first World Matchplay tournament. Sky still shows this event today.

• 1995
  • L!VE TV showed the World Masters. ITV also showed short highlights in its late-night show Sport AM.

• 1996
  • Eurosport took over as the channel showing the World Masters.

• 1997
  • Sky Sports and the News of the World newspaper brought back the News of the World Darts Championship. However, it wasn't as popular as hoped, so it wasn't held again.

• 1998
  • From October 14 to 18, Sky Sports showed the first World Grand Prix. They still show this event today.

• 1999
  • ITV broadcast a special one-off darts match between Phil Taylor (PDC) and Raymond van Barneveld (BDO).

Darts in the New Millennium (2000s)

• 2001
  • The BBC replaced Eurosport as the channel for the World Masters. This was the first time in many years that the BBC showed a darts event other than the BDO World Darts Championship. The BBC showed the World Masters until 2010.

• 2002
  • From July 4 to 7, Sky Sports showed a new tournament from overseas, the Las Vegas Desert Classic. Sky continued to show this event until it ended in 2009.

• 2003
  • From May 30 to June 3, Sky Sports showed the first UK Open tournament. They continued to show this event until 2013.

• 2004
  • On November 21, Sky Sports broadcast a special "pay-per-view" challenge match. This meant viewers had to pay extra to watch it. It was between Phil Taylor, the PDC world champion, and Andy Fordham, the BDO world champion.

• 2005
  • On January 1, the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship began. For the first time, the BBC offered live coverage of every single dart thrown! They did this using their BBC Red Button service, which allowed viewers to switch to extra live coverage.
  • On January 20, Sky Sports showed the first night of a new tournament called Premier League Darts. This league had a new format, with matches played on different nights, usually Thursdays. Sky still shows this event today.

• 2007
  • From November 17 to 25, ITV started showing live darts again with the first Grand Slam of Darts. They hadn't shown live darts since 1988! Some of the event was on the main ITV channel, and the rest was on ITV4. ITV broadcast this event until 2010.

• 2008
  • Setanta Sports broadcast the BDO Gold Cup.
  • From October 30 to November 2, ITV started showing a new tournament, the European Championship, after their success with the Grand Slam of Darts.

Darts Continues to Grow (2010s)

• 2010
  • From July 29 to August 1, Bravo showed darts for the first and only time, broadcasting the 2010 European Championship.

• 2011
  • On July 6, ESPN announced a deal with the British Darts Organisation. This made ESPN the only channel for the World Masters and other BDO tournaments. The deal also meant ESPN would share coverage of the BDO World Darts Championship with the BBC.
  • In September, ITV picked up the rights to the European Darts Championship and the Players Championship Finals. They had lost the contract for the Grand Slam of Darts to Sky Sports.

• 2012
  • On January 7, ESPN broke the BBC's long-standing monopoly on covering the BDO World Darts Championship. This started a new trend where two channels shared the rights, with ESPN (and later BT Sport) showing the evening coverage live.
  • From September 20 to 23, ESPN showed the 2012 Darts European Championship. This made them the first channel in Britain to show both BDO and PDC tournaments at the same time.

• 2013
  • On June 14, the PDC and ITV announced a new deal to cover four tournaments a year until 2015. These included the Players Championship, the European Championship, a new tournament called the Masters, and the UK Open. A fifth tournament, the World Series of Darts Finals, was added the next year.
  • In December, Sky Sports launched a special temporary channel called Sky Sports Darts. It broadcast 24/7 coverage of the PDC World Darts Championship.

• 2014
  • From February 4 to 9, Eurosport showed the first BDO World Trophy. They also showed the 2015 event.
  • From March 7 to 9, ITV took over as the channel for the UK Open.
  • In November, ITV signed a deal to cover five darts tournaments in 2015. This meant ITV would show the Masters, the UK Open, the European Championship, the World Series of Darts Finals, and the Players Championship Finals.
  • On December 18, Sky Sports brought back its temporary channel, Sky Sports Darts, for the PDC World Darts Championship. This channel showed live games, replays, and classic moments. Sky Sports Darts has returned every year since then.

• 2015
  • In January, BT Sport became the second channel to show the BDO World Darts Championship.

• 2016
  • From January 2 to 10, the BBC showed the BDO World Darts Championship for the last time.
  • In February, it was announced that the BBC would cover the first PDC Champions League of Darts. This meant the BBC would no longer show the BDO World Darts Championships, which they had shown since 1978. This was the first time the BBC covered a PDC event.
  • From May 28 to 30, the UKTV channel Dave showed darts again for a one-off event, the 2016 BDO World Trophy.
  • From December 1 to 4, Premier Sports broadcast the 2016 World Masters. They only showed it once, as the tournament returned to Eurosport the next year.

• 2017
  • On January 7, Channel 4 showed darts for the first time, with live coverage of the 2017 BDO World Darts Championship. Channel 4 also showed the 2018 event.
  • From May 26 to 29, the 2017 BDO World Trophy was broadcast by a short-lived sports channel called Front Runner. This channel also showed the England Open the following month.

• 2018
  • From May 30 to June 3, Premier Sports broadcast full coverage of the 2018 BDO World Trophy.

• 2019
  • In January, Eurosport became the new channel for the BDO World Darts Championship. They showed some games on their free-to-air sister channel, QUEST. Eurosport also showed that year's World Masters and BDO World Trophy.

Darts in the 2020s

• 2020
  • From January 4 to 12, Eurosport showed the final BDO World Darts Championship. Eurosport would have shown the 2021 event, but the BDO organization closed down in September 2020.

• 2022
  • From February 3 to 6, the BBC and BT Sport broadcast full live coverage of the first World Seniors Darts Championship. This event features older, well-known darts players.
  • From April 2 to 10, Eurosport broadcast the World Darts Federation's first World Championship.

• 2023
  • In February, Viaplay Sports became the channel for the PDC European Tour. This deal means they will show 13 live events for the next five seasons.