Sky Sports is to launch a dedicated darts channel in December as it celebrates 25 years of broadcasting the World Darts Championship.
Sky Sports Arena HD will become Sky Sports Darts HD between 14 December and 3 January – On Virgin Media UK.
That’s three full weeks of non-stop darts programming including every lunchtime and evening session live from Ally Pally (that’s Alexandra Palace if you’re not familiar with the lingo).
As well as marking a quarter of a century of PDC World Championship coverage, Sky will also be paying tribute to legendary thrower Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor as the 16-time world champion takes part in the tournament for the last time.
Sky first broadcast the World Darts Championship in 1993, when a 33-year-old Taylor lost 6-1 to Dennis ‘The Menace’ Priestley, and will honour The Power this year with an exclusive hour-long documentary ‘Phil Taylor the Greatest’.
In it, Taylor (pictured after winning the inaugral Champions League of Darts in 2016) tells us how at the age of 10 he was told he would become the greatest darts player ever – and how he managed to fulfill that prophecy.
Sky Sports Darts HD will also air an exclusive interview with Mensur Sulijovic, the current world number seven who fled the war in Serbia with his family before learning to play darts in Belgium.
Presenter Dave Clark said: “I can’t wait for the worlds to get started. I think this year’s tournament will be the biggest and best yet.
‘The Power’ will want to go out on a high but he’ll have the next class of world champions snapping at his heels. It’s going to make for addictive viewing.”
Clark will be joined for the tournament by fellow presenters Laura Woods, Wayne Mardle, Keith Deller, Russ Bray and John Part.
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