SKY SPORTS have been rewarded for their coverage of the William Hill World Darts Championship at the prestigious Broadcast Digital Awards.
The 2015 William Hill World Darts Championship took place from December 18 2014-January 4 2015 at London's Alexandra Palace, and saw Gary Anderson defeat Phil Taylor to win a thrilling 13-set final.
Sky Sports enjoyed huge viewing figures throughout the tournament, which was broadcast live through the "Sky Sports Darts" channel.
After being nominated in the "Best Sports of Live Event Coverage" category at the Broadcast Digital Awards, Sky Sports scooped the top prize ahead of:
Isle of Man TT (ITV4)
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five To Go (Gold)
MotoGP (BT Sport 2)
Phillip's 24 Hour Live TV Marathon for Text Santa (ITV3)
Tour de France (ITV4)
In presenting the award, Broadcast Digital's judging panel said:
Just as Gary Anderson had to fight off some tough competition to win the 2015 tournament, so Sky Sports had to defeat a host of high-profile rivals to triumph in this category.
Faithfully capturing and relaying the action and energy of a live event is no mean feat. One problem faced by production teams covering sport is to create a programme that is accessible to newcomers, while not dumbing down the detail to such a degree that they alienate armchair aficionados.
The judges were won over by Sky Sports’ approach, which they praised as a perfect balance between the two. “A success in engaging die-hard fans, but the quite phenomenal viewing figures demonstrated broad appeal,” said one judge.
To counter the relative lack of movement in the game, Sky Sports opted for a range of camera positions and kit, including using super slow-motion to provide a detailed look at the players’ throwing techniques and the movement of the dart. The efforts impressed the judges, who praised the production for being “innovative” and “beautifully crafted”.
The ratings were another plus point, with an average of 345,000 viewers , while the five-minute peak for the final, simulcast with Sky Sports 1, reached 1.7 million.
Accepting the award on behalf of the Sky Sports production team at Wednesday's ceremony in London, presenter Dave Clark said: "I'd like to thank Broadcast for this award on behalf of everyone at Sky Sports.
"Stephen Fry kicked off the World Championship, officially launching the Sky Sports Darts channel on Twitter, and millions of fans got involved across Sky's social media channels.
"This support helped our TV coverage reach record viewing figures and made sure it was one of the highlights of the festive season on Sky Sports."