UK commercial broadcaster ITV’s sports production arm has been selected by rival free-to-air network Channel 5 to produce coverage of World Snooker Tour (WST) events, beginning with the Players Championship and Tour Championship in early 2026.

As part of a new partnership with WST that marks the first free-to-air UK broadcast deal in over two decades, Channel 5 will provide live coverage of both events and the British Open.

The tournaments, which will feature the world’s top snooker players, will be televised live on Channel 5 for the first time in 2026, through a deal struck in June.

Up until 2024, the Players Championship and Tour Championship had been broadcast by ITV.

The appointment is the first time ITV Sport Production has secured production on a broadcast not carried on an ITV platform since joining the overall ITV Studios arm in 2024.

The 2026 Players Championship will run from February 17 to 22 in Telford, UK, featuring only the top 16 on the one-year ranking list.

Then, only the top 12 players on the same list graduate to the Tour Championship, running from March 30 to April 5 in Manchester.

ITV Sport Production is headed up by Mark Demuth as managing director and Katie Reed as head of production, who has overseen all major sports tournaments for ITV since 2022.

Demuth has now said: “We are thrilled to partner with 5 on their snooker coverage, an exciting new venture bringing prestigious WST events live to mainstream TV.

“This marks a pivotal moment for ITV Sport Production, as we strategically expand beyond [the] ITV network and leverage our production expertise to produce diverse sporting content for all broadcast platforms, starting with Channel 5.”