C4 steps up to the oche and becomes the terrestrial home of BDO Darts

12 August 2016

Channel 4 has today announced a two-year deal with the British Darts Organisation that will see the broadcaster become the new terrestrial home of the BDO World Darts Championship from 2017-2018.

From January 2017 Channel 4 will broadcast live from Lakeside during the afternoon sessions of the men’s and women’s championships in addition to one of the semi-finals and the Women’s Final. All evening sessions will be aired on BT Sport alongside one of the semi-finals. The Men’s Final will air on both Channel 4 and BT.

All of the coverage from the Championships will be broadcast free-to-air on Channel 4 - with live coverage also available throughout the Championships on BT Sport.

Stephen Lyle, Commissioning Editor, Sport at Channel 4 said: “We are delighted to agree this deal which sees Channel 4 become the home of BDO Darts on terrestrial TV, adding another popular sport to our schedules and keeping it free-to-air for fans. The darts is a British sporting institution and we look forward to bringing our unique Channel 4 approach to coverage of the Championships.”

Sue Williams, Chairman of the BDO, said: “We took considerable care in selecting our broadcast partner and we are highly delighted that Channel 4 is that partner. Through its channels and BT Sport, all the sessions will be shown live with additional highlights shows and innovative content online. We were particularly pleased with Channel 4’s fresh approach and new ideas and the track record they have for this with other sports in their portfolio. We believe this will appeal to a broader demographic of viewers.

“This is an excellent partnership for the BDO, both commercially and in terms of the right strategic partner to further strengthen BDO darts.”Further details on Channel 4’s coverage and presenting line up for the 2017 BDO World Darts Championship will be announced in due course.

Channel 4 has a track record for innovative coverage of major sporting events, which most recently includes the FIA Formula One World Championship™, its BAFTA-winning coverage of the 2012 Paralympic Games, and its BAFTA-winning cricket coverage. In 2016, Channel 4 will also broadcast the Rio Paralympic Games and 90 days of live racing coverage including The Grand National, Royal Ascot and The Derby.

 

 

 

Notes to editors

About the BDO

Founded in 1973, THE BRITISH DARTS ORGANISATION (BDO) is the only recognised governing body for darts in Britain and through its ranking points is established globally as the world’s leading darts organisation. The BDO comprises sixty-six member counties in Britain, and has sixty-nine associate countries worldwide.

The BDO represents darts from grass roots right through to professional and as such is fully committed to regulating, organising, promoting, staging, administrating and fostering darts nationally, internationally and worldwide for men, women, boys and girls to ensure the on-going growth of the sport for all participants irrespective of gender, age or ability.

About The Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships

The Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship is the pinnacle event in the world darts calendar. First held in 1978, 2017 will be the 40th year for this event which is traditionally held at The Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, near Camberley, West Surrey. Players qualify for the tournament from 9 global regional BDO Ranking Tables drawing the world’s best players from Asia, Australia, Baltic & Scandinavia, Canada, Eastern Europe, New Zealand, Western Europe, UK and USA.

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded, public service broadcaster. Financially, C4 is self-sufficient and puts all its profits back into programmes, at zero cost to the taxpayer. As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with over 300 creative companies across the UK every year. In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, 4seven, Channel4.com and digital service All 4.