28 November – One hour of the final of the amateur All-England Pairs Championship is shown live on Midland ITV. Mark Wildman and George Gibson defeated John Price and Cliff Wilson 3-1.[6][7]
8 September – The Sunday Times publishes the article "Great TV Snooker Frame-up", exposing the fixing of non-tournament televised matches for "the artificial production of climaxes".[14]
1969
23 July – Snooker tournament Pot Black launches on BBC Two. It is used as a way of showcasing colour television which had recently launched on the channel.[15]
21 and 28 April – The BBC covers the World Snooker Championship, albeit in very limited form with coverage restricted to a semi-final (21st) and the final (28th) and is broadcast during the Saturday afternoon Grandstand programme.[16][17]
18 January – The BBC shows recorded coverage of the final frames of the inaugural Masters. It is broadcast during Grandstand one day after the tournament ends.[19]
28–30 April – BBC TV coverage for the first Crucible championship increases slightly but is still limited to highlights of the semi-finals and some coverage of the final on Grandstand and in an additional late night highlights programme.[20]
3 December – The BBC shows coverage of the final of the first UK Championship, on BBC One's Grandstand programme.[21] The BBC has broadcast the event ever since, gradually increasing its coverage over the years.
17–29 April – The BBC shows daily coverage of the World Snooker Championship for the first time. 14 nightly highlights programmes are shown with additional Saturday afternoon coverage on Grandstand.[22]
30 November to 2 December – The BBC extends coverage of the UK Championship with 2 late night highlights of the semi-finals before showing the final on Grandstand.
1979
16–28 April – TV coverage of the World Championship is extended to include an early-evening "Frame of the Day" programme[24] as well as live coverage of parts of the final.
20–27 October – BBC television shows the inaugural World Cup with daily coverage in the afternoon and evening.
1980s
1980
7–9 February – The BBC extends coverage of the Masters event and airs coverage of two quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final.
22–29 November – The BBC shows daily coverage of the second week of the UK Championship for the first time.
1981
29 January to 1 February – The BBC adds an extra day of coverage of the Masters with all quarter-finals being shown alongside live and recorded coverage of the final on the day that it is played.
4–7 March – ITV shows coverage of the first Yamaha Organs Trophy, which later became known as the British Open, and would show the tournament until 1993. The coverage had three daily highlights programmes before showing the final on Saturday.
14–20 September – ITV shows another new event, the Jameson International Open, with daily late night highlights lasting the whole week and further coverage at the weekend including the final.
1982
11 January – ITV shows the first televised maximum 147 break when Steve Davis achieved it during the Lada Classic.
2–10 October – The Jameson International Open extends to eight days with daily coverage also being shown in the afternoon and late at night.
15–19 December – ITV shows the World Doubles Championship. Consequently, both ITV and the BBC are now airing four tournaments per season.
1983
10–16 January – The Lada Classic extends to eight days starting on Sunday 9 January. ITV starts coverage the day later.
1984
22–29 January – The BBC shows the entire Masters for the first time.
20–26 October – The BBC shows the renamed Grand Prix for the first time. This was the third edition of the event, and had been renamed from the Professional Players Tournament, and had not received any television coverage.
1985
13 January – ITV now ends all their tournaments on Sunday afternoon (until 1989) as opposed to Sunday evenings, starting with the Mercantile Credit Classic.
20–23 March – The BBC extends its TV tournaments to five, with the World Team Cup. The tournament is reduced in length and moves from October to March.
17 April – Following the 1986 event, Pot Black is put on hiatus as it is seen as outdated in the world of multiple events being broadcast on both the BBC and ITV.
1987
No events.
1988
ITV broadcasts all five editions of the World Matchplay tournament. ITV sees this event as being a replacement for the World Doubles Championship, which it had televised since that tournament began in 1982.[26]
19–27 November – The UK Championship slims down to become a nine-day event and the BBC, for the first time, shows live and recorded coverage from each day.
1989
No events.
1990s
1990
No events.
1991
2 September – After five years, Pot Black returns.
1992
No events.
1993
6 March – ITV ends its coverage of snooker after its broadcast of that year's British Open. It had previously shown around four events each year.
20 October – Pot Black's revival ends after three events.
19 August – ITV's return to snooker ends after it shows the 2001 Champions Cup.
2002
No events.
2003
Eurosport broadcasts snooker for the first time.[27] The channel goes on to provide extensive coverage of the sport both in the UK and across Europe.
2004
No events.
2005
8 January – Premier League Snooker is relaunched with Sky Sports being the broadcaster of the event, which takes place over a four-month period.
29 October – Pot Black returns as a one-day tournament and is broadcast on the BBC's Grandstand. The event features eight players.[15]
2006
No events.
2007
6 October – Pot Black is held for the final time after three events as a one-day tournament.[15]
2008
No events.
2009
No events.
2010s
2010
October – ITV returns to the green baize when it broadcasts coverage of a new tournament called Power Snooker. The following year ITV signs a deal to show the next three events.[28]
25 February to 3 March – ITV makes a full return to snooker when it signs a deal to broadcast the World Open. This is the first world ranking event ITV has shown for 20 years.[30] It only shows the event once before it moves to Eurosport.
19–24 November – ITV expands its snooker coverage when it shows the revived Champion of Champions tournament. Coverage of broadcast on ITV4.[31] It continues to show the tournament to this day.
2014
No events.
2015
No events.
2016
12–14 February – The Snooker Shoot Out transfers to ITV, which shows the next three events.
28 April – Eurosport announces that it will continue to show snooker's biggest tournaments for the next ten years with a new deal running until 2026.[27]
Eurosport makes some of its snooker coverage available on free-to-air television when it begins simulcasting coverage on free-to-air channel Quest.[32]
2017
8 December – The BBC announces a multi-year extension to its coverage of snooker's ‘’Triple Crown’’ events meaning that the Masters, UK Championship and World Championship will stay on BBC screens until the end of the 2023/24 season.[33]
19–24 March – ITV televises a new tournament - the Tour Championship. Consequently, ITV now broadcasts four top snooker tournaments each year with current deals running until 2022.[35]
13 September – FreeSports begins showing snooker when it begins its coverage of the first-ever ranking edition of the 2020 Championship League. FreeSports also covered the 2021 tournament. Earlier in the year, ITV4 launched the first sporting event after the pandemic caused a total shutdown of sporting events across the world, with this modified version of the Championship League.
2021
2 July – ITV Sport acquires the host broadcasting rights to the revived British Open. Eurosport, which had previously broadcast the tournament in the UK, will continue to show the event for European viewers outside of the UK.
28 February – Eurosport closes in the UK and Ireland after 36 years when TNT Sports's incorporates the coverage previously showed on Eurosport. Eurosport had shown snooker extensively since 2003 so coverage of the events that it showed now move behind TNT Sports's paywall.[38]
By the end of 2025 ITV Sport will have, once again, withdrawn from snooker. ITV4 had shown approximately five tournaments a year since 2013.
2026
15 February – Channel 5's coverage of snooker expands when it begins to show the Players Championship. Channel 5 will also broadcast the Tour Championship and the British Open.[39]
↑ "Barron in ITV snooker tournament semi-final". Cornish Guardian. 10 January 1963. p.11.
↑ "BA&CC Amateur Televised (ITV) Invitation Trophy Jonathan Barron beats Mario Berni 4–3 in splendid final". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. July 1964. p.15.
1 2 3 4 5 Everton, Clive (1985). "Snooker in the Television Age". Snooker: The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. pp.6–13. ISBN978-0-85112-448-3.
↑ "The English Amateur Championship". Billiards and Snooker. April 1964. p.3.
↑ "1965 championships". Billiards and Snooker. May 1965. p.16.
↑ Everton, Clive. "Television snooker". Billiards and Snooker. pp.3–4.
↑ Turner, Chris. "World Matchplay". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
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