How Darts on TV Became Huge


Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport.

We all want to work on projects we're passionate about, but sometimes compromises need to be made. This is particularly true in the current media environment. Is there a way to turn that passion into profits and, therefore, a sustainable media business? Peter Houston from Media Voices and Magazine Diaries/Grub Street Journal comes back on the podcast to discuss it all.


Darts: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

On Sunday, the World Darts Championship begins again at Alexandra Palace in London. The 18-day-long competition is one of the best sporting events of the year. No, American readers, I haven’t gone mad. It’s true! Christmas officially starts the first time you hear that music.

It is hard to explain why to anyone outside of the UK that this has become such a big deal, but it is. And it’s almost entirely down to TV.

For decades, darts was, let’s be honest, a bit of a joke. A thing played by old blokes in grimy pubs. Then promotor Barry Hearn worked with Sky Sports to polish things and the cash poured in.

Now, the broadcaster dedicates an entire channel to the competition over the Christmas period. This year’s Sky Sports ad campaign, “Merry Football Dartsmas” shows how embedded it has become, given that football was always dominant at this time of year.

Read the full article on why darts is so huge with a paid subscription. Current free subscribers get a 20% discount, making it just £4 per month/£40 per year.

£50.00 / year

£40.00 / year

Paid Newsletter

Take out a paid subscription to The Addition for member-only newsletter containing extra insights and scoops about the... Read more

If you don't want a subscription but want to support my work, you can do that too. It's like buying me a coffee!

Support The Addition

The Addition

Charlotte Henry is a journalist and broadcaster who creates and runs The Addition newsletter and podcast; an award-winning publication looking at the crossover between media and technology.

Read more from The Addition

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. Thank you for reading! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. By doing so, you get extra stories and support the growth of independent media. The Super Bowl is usually a major opportunity for media of all kinds to bring in serious ad revenue. However, Reach, the company that publishes the Daily Mirror, amongst others, seem to have somewhat limited themselves. Ahead of the game, Jack Benjamin at...

A football laying on a football field

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. Thank you so much for supporting my work by being a paid subscriber. There's lots more on Super Bowl LIX coverage below, but one thing in particular did make me laugh. The Fox cameras panned to Rupert Murdoch taking in the game at the New Orleans Superdome. Cue gushing from commentator Kevin Burkhardt, who expressed his excitment at seeing "the boss" sitting in the crowd. Sponsored by: 1440 News. Without...

white and gray round ceramic plate

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. Thank you so much for reading. If you want to support my work more, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Super Bowl Sunday! Radio Row! Taylor Swift! It's fair to say the hype has well and truly started for this Sunday's Super Bowl. In a repeat of 2023, the Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Kansas City Chiefs. We don't have the battle between the brothers narrative this time as Jason Kelce has...