When ITV announced the overhaul of its darts broadcast team ahead of 2026, the pairing of Chris Mason and Wayne Mardle raised eyebrows in parts of the darts community. The two men had a well-documented history of social media sparring, and placing them together on commentary felt like either a masterstroke or an elaborate gamble. Mason has now delivered his verdict — and it is unambiguous.
“Am I surprised at the love? Absolutely, I am,” Mason said. “Thanks to Wayne, thanks to Matchroom and PDC for having the stones to stick us in together, because I literally — that is the most fun I’ve ever had at any tournament. It was incredible.”
The words are striking precisely because of the history that preceded them. For all the warmth of the reaction to ITV’s refreshed coverage, Mason had not previously worked alongside Mardle, and both men arrived at the new-look broadcast with very different on-screen identities. Yet Mason’s verdict, delivered in conversation with Online Darts, leaves no room for ambiguity about what the partnership produced. “For me, it was some of the best darts TV I’ve ever seen.”
The chemistry, it turns out, was not manufactured for the cameras. “Wayne and I have known each other for over 30 years. The way we talk on comms is exactly how we talk in the press room watching darts.” Three decades of shared experience in the sport — watching matches, talking darts behind the scenes — meant that what viewers saw on screen was not rehearsed banter between broadcast professionals but something far more natural.
Mason had entertained genuine doubts beforehand. “I wasn’t sure how all the styles would blend. Wayne has his style, I have mine. Webby has his. Mark Wilson is a proper broadcaster, very structured. And then there’s Dan, who is just a genius.” The resolution, he felt, came from clarity of roles. “Mark brought calm and structure. He wouldn’t let things drift too far.”
The scale of the response still caught him off guard. “Was I surprised it worked? No. Was I surprised by the amount of love it got? Yes.” That surprise extended to the reaction from within the television industry itself. “I’ve never had so much positive feedback from people inside the TV industry saying how involved they felt in the broadcast.”
The quality of the product, Mason suggested, was rooted in preparation that went beyond anything he had previously experienced on ITV darts coverage. “I’ve never done as much rehearsal for an event as I did for this one.” The production mindset, he recalled, was uncompromising from the outset. “The production executive basically said, ‘I don’t care if you think you know what you’re doing. We’re not getting this wrong.'”
Mason also pointed to the influence of Matchroom’s wider broadcasting operation as a catalyst for the shift in approach. “When you look at what Matchroom have been doing in Saudi Arabia with boxing production, you can see how that experience filtered into darts.” The ambition, he argued, helped the coverage reach audiences who might otherwise have switched off. “Not everyone knows everything about darts. Some people are coming home from work and suddenly they’re dropped into a match halfway through. We explained what had happened and why it mattered.”
Not all the reaction to ITV’s new-look coverage has been positive. The reshaped team brought with it visible casualties, most notably Alan Warriner-Little, who publicly revealed he learned of his ITV exit via social media. Some viewers questioned whether the broadcaster was sacrificing its identity for something closer to a Matchroom house style. Mason did not wade into individual grievances, but he did acknowledge one flashpoint directly. “The score graphic became divisive, which amazed me.” His response to those critics was pointed. “People forget there are visually impaired fans. Darts is one of the few sports they can follow easily. The outrage over the graphics, over the MC — it was just unnecessary. Be kind.”
The reunion of two men who had been known to take swipes at each other online has, by Mason’s account, produced the best darts television he has ever been part of. One darts journalist watching from the outside described the pairing as “like leaders of two warring factions uniting for the greater good.” Based on Mason’s own words, that analogy might be closer to the truth than even those involved had anticipated.
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