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Do the BBC find darts embarrassing ?
satman17
Posts: 2,608 Forum Member
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It's on every year, just wondering why the BBC televise this ?
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satman17
Posts: 2,608 satman17
Posts: 2,608 satman17
Posts: 2,608 satman17
Posts: 2,608
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It's cheap and fills lots of the afternoon and late night TV schedules.
Digressing...
The rather "thin volume" which contains the details of the BBC's live sports coverage and the first post, reminds me of when as a kid, I watched Peter Dimmock introduce "Sportsview" as it was in those days, announcing; "Tonight we have for you, horse racing and table tennis," as if he were giving us something special.
To be honest, table tennis is more exciting than horse racing
(Where's that 'rollingeyes' smiley when you need it?!
Yes the OP's question doesn't make any sense. If they found it embarrassing then they wouldn't show it every year would they?
Actually its been on BBC since 1978 when Leighton Rees became the first World Champion.
Love the quote "its on every year"
If there is a problem with Darts its that there are two World Championships-the PDC (broadcast on SKY) ending on New Years Day and the BDO version (on BBC) a week or so later. There was a split in the 1990's when a group of top players set up the PDC. Its daft really, the PDC on SKY is watched by miniscule audiences and the BDO still headlines to the mass audience on BBC2 but suffers because the standard is overall much poorer. They really SHOULD let bygones be bygones and unite.
It's a pity that the PDC broke away. BBC2 was the natural home of darts and I've never fully bought into the Sky version, despite them having all the good players and better prize money.
And that's their problem. Many people can't or won't buy in to Sky. The players of the 80s were major household names when it was shown on the BBC. Now, the only major player most people have heard of is Phil Taylor. Mostly because he's won nearly every world championship since the split.
I know that because when we left the place and went to the pub over the road, the programme was still on because of Phil Taylor flattening his opponent in no time flat while the telly schedule still had time to run.
Well, the night time stuff is recorded earlier but the afternoon show which goes out for over three hours is live
Its just a few rotund overweight sweaty men throwing pointy sticks at a board with a crowd going bat shit crazy, I think even bowls is more exciting!
The atmosphere at the PDC world championship has become very different too. I was surprised last week just how boisterous it is....the crowd engaged in football type chanting and singing even when the players are throwing.
No, it's a very interesting and technical sport. It's absolutely perfect for television as the action and scoring is really fast moving compared to most other sports.
Sky and the PDC just use the whole thing as an excuse to make money from chanting pissheads who need something to do between football games. They have been successful with it but, for me, it's too far removed from what a Darts atmosphere should be. The Lakeside will always be the true home of Darts, even if the best of the best don't play there.
By the way, the BBC are far from 'embarrassed' by the Darts. It gets solid ratings and they've even got more coverage this year (most notably, showing the whole evening session on the red button). They recently signed up for several more years of covering the Lakeside. And why not? It's always a great show.
How? I prefer F1 where tactics are there to see, teams put together their cars, they have strategies and they work them out so they can beat everyone. Darts is just throw dart on board... gain points. Each to own but I fail to see how technical it actually is?
Agreed. There is always this feeling that its not complete, however high the averages are on the PDC version.
Get together and sort Darts out -that's what I say
Huh, Formula 1 is full of "secret technology" that mechanics love and people who are watching don't give a stuff about. What goes in to winning at Formula 1 is 99% unseen.
Which is still alot more technical than darts
Well that's the point isn't it - it's a game. If you need a Masters in engineering to fully understand it then it kind of misses the point.
And the chanting and singing is part of the event, its not pissheads and misbehaviour.
The quality on BDO is poor and has been for years and thats because of the arse that is Olly Croft.
The PDC has evolved for the greater good of the game and anyone that can't see that is frankly, blind.