Darts on ITV has given the sport a fresh look (Pic: Pete Graves on X)

Darts on ITV: New presenters and commentary team are improving despite social media critics, writes Paul Nicholson

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Wed March 18, 2026 · 2h ago

The new production of darts events on ITV has received mixed reviews over the opening three months of the season and Paul Nicholson reflects on the changes in this week's column.

What the fans are saying?

When Matchroom decided to take over from ITV for this production and do things themselves, there were always going to be changes.

Changes to staff, changes to production, changes to infrastructure.

They made the decision also that they wanted to change the talent from pretty much top to bottom.

And what people who have a very strong opinion about this don't seem to understand is just how much work has had to go into this.

The new-look line-up for ITV’s darting coverage has been unveiled ahead of the start of the 2026 season! 🙌

👉 https://t.co/4eabMb4s5d pic.twitter.com/NiyOlyLuMz
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 15, 2026

There are always going to be teething problems when there's wholesale changes made to new productions, especially for an event in Minehead which is a logistical challenge due to the multiple rooms and stages.

I saw a lot of negatives on social media but I think for a first domestic event, I think they did a great job. Was it perfect? No. But then again, what production IS perfect?

It seems like no matter what the viewers watch these days, if it's something new, it's a case of "What's bad about this? What can I post on social media?"

Forget about the fact that all of that was done free to view for your benefit, but lets just look at the negatives.

Is darts on ITV too much like Sky Sports?

There is obviously a lot of crossover talent that is being used compared to the past when ITV had an almost completely different set of presenters, pundits and commentators while the graphics, including the on screen scoreboard, were different.

Now it feels like there's a lot more of an overlap between the traditional ITV events and traditional Sky events with the introduction of Wayne Mardle and Glen Durrant, while Mark Webster and Dan Dawson remain voices on both productions.

So I can understand that they might be getting a lot of the same opinions and outlooks from people who work for both productions, but…

Chris Mason's presence means there's still a little bit of traditional ITV stock there while there's new faces and voices such as Pete Graves, Gabbie Partington, Mark Wilson and Ian Danter.

I was commentating on board two during the UK Open and I obviously wasn't immune from the criticism on social media either!

Everybody was getting slated, so is this a production being on trial, or is this just the people putting something on trial for the sake of putting something on trial?

New faces learning the ropes

Pete Graves is a great journalist who has done incredible things with Sky Sports News over the years, and he's been thrust into the limelight for a sport which hasn't seen many anchors over the years.

We've had Jeff Stelling and when Dave Clark took over people initially didn't like the change. But then, obviously, everyone ended up loving Dave and were gutted when he decided to step back.

Emma Paton then came in and that transition is probably the best transition we've ever had in our sport, because she is fantastic and we were very lucky to get her.

This is the nature of production. There are going to be changes and now that Jacqui Oatley has gone from presenting ITV, it's now Pete who is in the firing line and is being graded by just one tournament.

What we should do is give him the rest of the year to understand the intricacies of darts, because he's a football guy, everybody knows that.

He probably admitted a few times on air that his darts knowledge was lacking - which wasn't necessary - but over the course of the year I think the fans will warm to him and the chemistry between himself, Wayne, and the team will improve. You don't judge someone on the first broadcast, you give them time.

As for Alexa Rendall, I think what they're trying to do is bring a little bit of vibrancy. They're trying to have a bit more connectivity with the fans, because if you look at what they've done traditionally with ITV, there was a bit of a disconnect between the balcony at the top in Minehead, and the fans downstairs.

What they're trying to do in Matchroom is to have a little bit more connectivity with the team and the fans close by. So what Alexa's trying to do is trying to get the feedback of the audience.

Alexa probably has the toughest job because she's got 4,500 partygoers and nobody knows which ones have any idea about darts or which ones will be coherent! It's very much a party atmosphere for three days so I believe that she had the most difficult job. I sure as hell wouldn't want to do what she does.

Considering the skill sets that she's had in motorsport, she's now going to translate that into the darting world, which is very, difficult.

Scoreboard needs changing

The only thing I take an exception with, which is a lot of us within the production have, is that we don't believe the previous graphics needed to be replaced.

But when you have these wholesale infrastructure changes and licensing issues to deal with, you may have to use your own new graphics and they will always get attention due to how prominent and fundamental they are to the coverage.

Are they perfect? No. They're not. And everybody knows it.

But like everything else, if they're not right by the middle of the year, when we go to other World Series events, like New York, then there's a problem.

But I'm positive that by the time we get there, things will be better.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Lewis Jones has taken a fair bit of stick as the new Master of Ceremonies for all of the PDC's televised darts events but, again, I think that was going to be inevitable for whoever was going to attempt to fill the huge vocal chords of John McDonald.

I've known Lewis for 16 years and he used to be Simon Whitlock's security, driver and facilitator.

That is how he got into the sport and then he started working for Modus where he gained experience of being an MC.

He has faced plenty of criticism on social media - most of which has been unfair and not constructive at all - but I did see him backstage on Saturday night when I was leaving, and he was in a great mood. So hopefully he's not been taking it too personally.

He loves doing the job and has sought the right advice from voice coaches and other ways to try and project himself better.

He's not standing there and simply reading a cue card. He's actively trying to better himself.

Look at who he was replacing. We've had just two MCs in the PDC since 1993.

And the longer there's no change, the harder it is for the public to accept change when it does come.

John McDonald was nervous at the beginning and he didn't know much about Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley and all these guys.

But over time he grew into the role and that's what we'll see with Lewis, who is nurturing his own style week by week and clearly improving with every passing tournament.