Crown Jewels of TV

I have been waiting to ask this all week

can anyone tell me what are the Crown Jewels of TV?

and what used to be in the list?

Interesting, didn't know such a thing existed.

Why have you waited all week?


It refers to the national sporting events of significance that were (AFAIK) reserved for broadcast only on PSB channels in the past.

A BBC Editor's Blog indicates that the only "Crown Jewels" they have for horseracing now are:

The Grand National
The Derby
Royal Ascot

Clearly there are other sports and specific events which count as "Crown Jewels" since it is a common term amongst many other countries' broadcasters.

I know:

Olympics
football world cup
cup final of Both English and Scottish thing

is also in the list

I'm sure
Cricket was once in it

to answer your Q Stuart: I keep forgetting

Indeed it was. It was from the debacle over the removal of cricket from the list that I remember the phrase "Crown Jewels" being used.

You're thinking of the listed events.

Details here on the Ofcom website.

English and Scottish what? Darts?

I would have thought The FA Cup Final and The Scottish Cup Final, but the SC only gets shown on BBC Scotland, but I think Sky Sports shows it aswell.