Three major World Snooker Tour events move to new TV channel
The Players Championship, Tour Championship and British Open will move to Channel 5 in 2026.
The three tournaments have been shown on ITV4 in recent seasons but will change broadcaster next year.
The change sees this season's Players Championship (Feb 16-22) and Tour Championship (Mar 30 – Apr 5) make the switch.
The British Open will move to Channel 5 in 2026, but this season's edition runs from 22-28 September, before the switch.
The broadcasting team of presenters, pundits and commentators have not been confirmed as yet, as Channel 5 show ranking events for the first time.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: 'We are delighted to be working with 5 for the first time and to add a new broadcaster to our tour. Snooker has a long history of providing fans with free-to-air events with extensive live coverage so this is fantastic news for everyone who follows our sport.
'The Players Championship and Tour Championship are elite events contested only by the best of the best. Players are striving all season to climb the one year list and earn a place in these prestigious tournaments.
'And from 2026, 5 will also broadcast the British Open which is a historic event with its own unique identity including a random draw.'
Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn was asked about the upcoming shake-up in broadcasting deals for World Snooker Tour events at this year's World Championship.
'There's going to be a mixture of broadcasters because quite honestly, broadcasters like snooker,' he said at the Crucible. 'It's delivering ratings.
'We live in a numbers game. ITV4 has been fantastically successful for us in the numbers it's got.
'So, obviously some of the other stations want snooker. And I think in the next couple of weeks we will lay out the deals that we've done. More Trending
'It's going to involve a multiple number of broadcasters. Some free-to-air, some behind the pay-model. But it's a compliment to where snooker is that it's in demand.
'We need to be more encouraging to the younger market, which involves talking to them in the language that they understand and the medium that they understand. And that's why the world is becoming more digital. The future is more Netflix than free-to-air.
'People will be able to watch what they want to watch, the sports they want to watch, when they want to watch it and for a price they can afford. I find that really exciting.'
MORE: 10 storylines of the new snooker season as the 2025-26 campaign begins
MORE: Anthony Hamilton names snooker star's transformation as 'most impressive thing I've seen'
MORE: Ronnie O'Sullivan faces World Snooker Championship nightmare ahead of new season
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