You really think this is anything other than a one off gimmick?
The BBC's days of investing in sport are long gone, and the PDC would be foolish to upset Sky given the way they've grown the sport.

This is THE best advert for darts on Sky. Sky will be loving this, bloody loving it. BBC viewers are seeing a higher standard to what they are used to and getting drawn into it. Barry may be a prat but he's a very clever one.

Taylor's finishing is razor sharp so far.

Sorry, Peter Taylor's finishing is razor sharp so far.

Just another example of the shoddy BBC production values.

OK we get it, Wright likes to change his darts!

Vassos got somebody's name wrong. Big bloody deal. You never EVER done that in your life ? I do it all the time, its called being human. You don't like the darts on the BBC fair enough. I have no idea why and you declined to answer my questions as to why you think it is bad for the game. Why don't you turn it over if you hate it so much ?

Shut up Phil.

Well done Jason, you've come out of your first Phil Taylor interview relatively unscathed.

That's it Phil, big up the BBC, just remember which broadcaster made you and the sport what it is. Judus.

Great match so far between MvG and Thornton and well poised at 5-5.

Bobby MVG 5 all at the break. Not going anywhere is he? (I mean bobby)

Break came at a bad time for Thornton.

Exactly Phil

Which broadcaster made you by showing your first two world championship wins ?
Which broadcaster brought darts to the masses and made it a household sport ?

Sk....oh no hang on.

Are you going to answer my question ? I don't think you can but I will ask again

Why do you think this event on the BBC is bad for the game ?

"Fantastic performance, Michael"

"I played absolute rubbish"



It's fair to say that the BBC coverage has been a bit rough round the edges so far, but I remember ITV's coverage being exactly the same when they started televising PDC tournaments.

You've got to bear in mind that this is massively far removed from the BDO darts that the BBC is used to televising; it's faster, it's more adrenalized, and it demands a certain style of coverage that it takes time to develop and hone.

OK, the start was a bit shaky and the scoreboard went down but that happens numerous times when Sky go through the Worlds; the spotting was a little wayward but it improved and they've got a very capable man doing it in Huw Ware.

Just teething problems, that's all.

Impressed with Mark Webster as a pundit/commentator

Come on Michael, get your arse into gear.

When Barry Hearn went to the BBC to try to persuade them to show PDC darts for the first time, I imagine he promised them something like this.

Tremendous match so far.

Is it just me, or is it still really strange to see the PDC on the BBC??

I can't quite get my head around it.

This must be a first, MVG not winning a leg on his own throw in a match.

The key thing here is pressure, there was no pressure for MVG to win that game, as he's still in the tournament regardless of result.

Vintage Taylor, that.

By the same token, though, MvG was substantially below his best in that match.

He looks very tired in the post-match interview.

The powers still on

I forgot this was on, just tuned in now

Any crazy averages going?

Very odd to see Nicholson sitting next to Taylor analysing his performance only a few short years after it looked like Nicholson was going to potentially challenge Taylor in the PDC outright.

If only he had put his effort into his game and not on deciding whether he wanted to be a pantomime villain or not...

If the results go to plan we will have a Gando v MVG semi final. That should be a cracker.

It all went wrong for him once he tried to be The Darts CM Punk