Darts on ITV

KevIRL

Changes - UK Open moves to ITV from 2014, European Championship will now be broadcast on ITV, along with a new Masters tournament. Players Championship will remain on ITV

http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/nd0wsprxrmp61ggiev9jovs8t/title/pdc--itv-agree-new-four-event-deal

THE PDC are delighted to announce a new, three-year contract with ITV which will see them broadcast the PartyPoker.net European Championship and Cash Converters Players Championship finals as well as the UK Open and a new event, The Masters.

The deal, covering tournaments in 2013, 2014 and 2015, will see four major PDC tournaments broadcast live on ITV4 as part of the channel's portfolio of sporting events.

The first event to be broadcast under the new deal will be next month's PartyPoker.net European Championship, which will be held from July 4-7 in Muelheim, Germany.

ITV will then broadcast a brand new tournament, The Masters, from November 1-3, as the top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit do battle at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh in a three-day event.

The Cash Converters Players Championship Finals, to be held from November 29-December 1, will again be broadcast live from the Butlins Minehead Resort in Somerset.

Finally, the UK Open - which was won by Phil Taylor last weekend in Bolton - will also be broadcast live on ITV in 2014 and 2015, with dates and full information to be confirmed later this year.

"We're delighted that ITV have made such a significant commitment to the PDC, and to the sport of darts, with this three-year, four-event deal," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

"They have a great enthusiasm for top-level sport, and in these four tournaments they see the best players in darts competing in major championships.

"As part of that, we are extremely excited about the introduction of The Masters, an event which will see the leading 16 players in world darts doing battle to see who really is the best of the best!"

ITV Director of Sport Niall Sloane said: "We are always delighted to work with the PDC, and the new darts tournaments are testimony to their ability to produce first class sporting events."

2013 PDC Events on ITV
PartyPoker.net European Championship
July 4-7, RWE Sporthalle Muelheim, Germany

The Masters
November 1-3, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh

Cash Converters Players Championship Finals
November 29-December 1, Butlins Minehead Resort, Somerset

Full broadcast schedules for each event to be confirmed in due course.

Details for the 2014 UK Open will also be confirmed once finalised.

Disappointed to see the UK Open leave Sky, I hope ITV will show as much of it as Sky always have, and have somewhere near the excellent coverage of it Sky do. On the other hand good to see more tournaments on the tellybox

buster180

Let’s hope UPC gets the finger out and get the rights to show the darts on ITV4. At the moment most of the programmes are blocked on that station in Ireland.

jonnny68

Yeah hopefully we'll be able to see it here.

irelandguy10

Sadly i just looked there and it says its not being viewed here which is a shame

robman60

I stumbled upon this tonight, fortunately.

As someone who misses out on the Sky action, it's nice to get a taste of top level darts.

ArmaniJeanss

I don't get the PDC's role in all this (the ITV4 blackout).

Lets assume that UPC aren't pulling it for the giggles, so its a PDC decision? Normally this is done because someone else has the rights (like when Setanta have Europa league so ITV4/ESPN are blanked) but that doesn't appear to be the case.
But if its PDC decision (because say ITV4 haven't paid enough for ROI rights) then why is it carried on Sky boxes here.

Or if UPC are doing it for giggles or by mistake, why aren't ITV and the PDC bringing it to their attention.


Anyone in a position of knowledge on this?

jonnygiles

Was hoping against hope that I could view the darts last night through my UPC box but was cut off. However at 11pm, when the alloted time for this restriction ended the PDC European Darts suddenly switched itself on again so was able to watch the end of the Barney game as well as the James Wade Mark Webster match! Very odd

RainMaker

Had a subscription to PDC website for live streaming... @8pm last night when ITV coverage started, live streaming was blocked based on geographical location.

The didn't seem to know that themselves though when I contacted support - eventually they responded to say they could only stream one event a year in this region: "The restrictions are applicable for all events with the exception of Championship League Darts" - but there was no mention of this previously, they have now updated the website to state: All events are geoblocked in the UK, Ireland and Holland

Can't watch on TV as I have UPC as well, so ITV4 is blocked out during broadcast!

big dar

UPC block all sport on ITV4 even if its not on another channel:mad: