Amazon sign Clarkson, Hammond and James for new 'Top Gear' show

Tom Hark Preston Park · Jul 30, 2015

Simster said:
Well no. They have an awful lot of cash swilling about, not unlike Apple. Which means they can take all sorts of punts, such as paying a relatively large amount of money for three washed up offensive gimps to appear on their own show.

I remember watching the Frank Bruno - Mike Tyson fight (in what, 1987 or 88?) on Sky before they bought the Premier League rights in . Hardly anybody watched it, despite it being eagerly anticipated. Obviously later, it was the football in the 1990s took Sky beyond tipping point in terms of viewership. All I'm saying is that this Clarkson thing is Amazon's equivalent of that Frank Bruno fight.

The talent-free stooges that are Hammond and May must now be genuflecting daily in the direction of Amazon Prime and Clarkson's ample denim coat-tails, from which they're hanging. They all deserve each other really.

Bozza · Jul 30, 2015

Simster said:
So that's probably around 5-7m subscribers in the UK, not all of them have dongles, and not all of them have a smart TV in place. And you reckon Clarkson and co will reach hundreds of thousands of viewers immediately?

Dear oh dear.

You're showing your age again Pops.

1. Top Gear was the most widely watch factual show in the world, sold to something like 200 countries. UK viewers are a small fraction of the Top Gear audience.
2. A lot of viewing now takes part away from that box in the corner of the living room. You see those computers, tablets and phones? Amazing, right?

Where did I say 'hundreds of thousands'? It won't be - it will be millions.

Wozza · Jul 30, 2015

Bozza said:
You're showing your age again Pops.

1. Top Gear was the most widely watch factual show in the world, sold to something like 200 countries. UK viewers are a small fraction of the Top Gear audience.
2. A lot of viewing now takes part away from that box in the corner of the living room. You seem those computers, tablets and phones? Amazing, right?

Where did I say 'hundreds of thousands'? It won't be - it will be millions.

Agreed.

clapham_gull · Jul 30, 2015

Simster said:
All I'm saying is that this Clarkson thing is Amazon's equivalent of that Frank Bruno fight.

It massively isn't. Their new car show isn't a live sport event where the value drops massively after it's initial live broadcast.

Amazon are now a programmer maker who happen to have their own platform. And of course exclusive rights to the merchandising and one of the world's most efficient distribution networks.

Once they've squeezed the cash of out the exclusive period, expect ITV to buy the rights the programme top and tailed with Amazon Prime sponsorship. The same in many other countries across the globe.

North Norfolk Digital this very much isn't.

Thunder Bolt · Jul 30, 2015

Tom Hark said:
The talent-free stooges that are Hammond and May must now be genuflecting daily in the direction of Amazon Prime and Clarkson's ample denim coat-tails, from which they're hanging. They all deserve each other really.

I'm a fan, which doesn't say much in the scheme of things, but I can think of worse things to watch.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Jul 30, 2015

Thunder Bolt said:
I'm a fan, which doesn't say much in the scheme of things, but I can think of worse things to watch.

Fair enough, each to their own, and it is massively popular. I just find it horribly horribly scripted and contrived, nothing happens by accident, including parking a car on the side of a mountain and 'accidentally' leaving the handbrake off, or putting Falklands-reference registration plates on a car during a tour of Argentina. I still can't believe they were all allowed to patently lie through their teeth about that one. You can bet your life that at some point in the future somebody will break ranks and admit they did it purely to wind the Argentinians up and make for good telly. Shame they never got lynched for that one really.

Notters · Jul 30, 2015

Bozza said:
factual show.

*Spits coffee all over computer.*

Easy 10 · Jul 30, 2015

This thread will certainly be worth a revisit in a couple of years won't it.

skipper734 · Jul 30, 2015

I've had Amazon Prime since it was first offered. Great to get the stuff you ordered next day, some real good series only on Prime. Vikings is one, with great production values. Be interesting to see and compare the BBC's offering of Bernard Cornwells Viking/Anglo Saxon books later this year.

clapham_gull · Jul 30, 2015

Easy 10 said:
This thread will certainly be worth a revisit in a couple of years won't it.

It all come down to how good the programme is nothing more nothing less..

The same people are making programmes what's changed is where the money is coming from.

Couple of examples spring to mind. Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters. Originally produced Fosters Lagers website, but the production values so high ends up on Sky then broadcast internationally by BBC.

Mr Sloane, produced for Sky but distributed by BBC Worldwide on behalf of them.

These interrelationships already exist but may not be apparent to the terrestrial viewer at home. No one makes a programme of this size these days without a thought on how it will be sold and distributed later.

Kuipers Supporters Club · Jul 30, 2015

It will be available online for free within half an hour after the show then. Good stuff.

NooBHA · Jul 30, 2015

Wozza said:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/cele...mond-and-james-may-for-new-show-10426102.html

Top Gear trio Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have signed to present a new car show on Amazon’s streaming service in one of the biggest coups in TV history.

The programme will air for the first time next year and be produced by former Top Gear executive Andy Wilman, an old school friend of Clarkson’s who is credited with revamping the format and turning it into the world’s most successful factual TV show.

The deal ends months of speculation about the future of the most bankable star on British TV following Clarkson’s spectacular departure from the BBC after 27 years.

BBC director general Tony Hall refused to renew the 55 year old’s contract after a notorious “fracas” at a Yorkshire hotel in March when Top Gear's frontman hit producer Oisin Tymon during a row about catering arrangements.

Co-presenters Hammond and May also bowed out saying that working with Clarkson’s replacement - later revealed to be Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans - was “a non-starter.”

Now all Amazon need to do is sign up Gordon Ramsay to cook the lunches and they can charge ''pay per view'' for the fight equivalent to the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight

French Seagull · Jul 30, 2015

The thing that annoys me most about this is that Amazon do have a great deal of cash to pay for a show like this, but only because they do not pay the correct taxes unlike most ordinary people here like you and me. If Osbourne is serious about balancing the books he is hitting the wrong people, he could very simply make some of the big names including Amazon and Google pay what they should on the profits they make in the UK, nothing more just what other businesses have to pay to keep the playing field level.

Gwylan · Jul 30, 2015

KZNSeagull said:
Question for the techies: what minimum speed Internet connection would you need to watch a show properly? How much data would an hour long show use?

I don't know about data but I have 50Mbps to my house and I couldn't watch any TV shows on PC. I tried to watch the test match today and all I see is Mitchell Johnson running in and the ball reaching the other end about 2 seconds later. I have to go back to old fashioned TV. Yesterday, I couldn't even get a truncated service as I had a 90-minute Internet outage

That is the problem with services like Amazon, Netflix and the others - it's not as reliable as old-fashioned TV

Plymouth Seagull said:
The thing that annoys me most about this is that Amazon do have a great deal of cash to pay for a show like this, but only because they do not pay the correct taxes unlike most ordinary people here like you and me. If Osbourne is serious about balancing the books he is hitting the wrong people, he could very simply make some of the big names including Amazon and Google pay what they should on the profits they make in the UK, nothing more just what other businesses have to pay to keep the playing field level.

Amazon doesn't make much profit. It made $245m global profit last quarter. Let's assume 10% of that is UK - that means that expected tax is about £12m a year - that's not going make a huge amount of difference

Badger · Jul 30, 2015

Plymouth Seagull said:
The thing that annoys me most about this is that Amazon do have a great deal of cash to pay for a show like this, but only because they do not pay the correct taxes unlike most ordinary people here like you and me. If Osbourne is serious about balancing the books he is hitting the wrong people, he could very simply make some of the big names including Amazon and Google pay what they should on the profits they make in the UK, nothing more just what other businesses have to pay to keep the playing field level.

Believe it or not Amazon hardly make any profit, all of their sales revenue gets ploughed back into their new products and trying to make delivery quicker, cheaper and more efficient.

NooBHA · Jul 30, 2015

Plymouth Seagull said:
The thing that annoys me most about this is that Amazon do have a great deal of cash to pay for a show like this, but only because they do not pay the correct taxes unlike most ordinary people here like you and me. If Osbourne is serious about balancing the books he is hitting the wrong people, he could very simply make some of the big names including Amazon and Google pay what they should on the profits they make in the UK, nothing more just what other businesses have to pay to keep the playing field level.

LOL or he could curtail the £300 a day expenses claimed by that Labour Peer and all of his other ''red bra and leather jacket'' brigade in the House of Lords - Sorry I had to squeeze that in after having seen that picture in the newspapers of him.

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo · Jul 30, 2015

Gwylan said:
I don't know about data but I have 50Mbps to my house and I couldn't watch any TV shows on PC. I tried to watch the test match today and all I see is Mitchell Johnson running in and the ball reaching the other end about 2 seconds later. I have to go back to old fashioned TV. Yesterday, I couldn't even get a truncated service as I had a 90-minute Internet outage

That is the problem with services like Amazon, Netflix and the others - it's not as reliable as old-fashioned TV

I've got about a 27Mbps connection and I don't have any problems at all watching Amazon or Netflix on tablets or using them and various On Demand services through my blu-ray player/sky box. Was the Cricket via Sky Go app or were you using a stream from a website like front row sports or Wiziwig or whatever the sites are now? I've always found streams from dubious sources very un-reliable but never had a problem with a proper subscription service.

Bozza · Jul 30, 2015

Gwylan said:
I don't know about data but I have 50Mbps to my house and I couldn't watch any TV shows on PC. I tried to watch the test match today and all I see is Mitchell Johnson running in and the ball reaching the other end about 2 seconds later. I have to go back to old fashioned TV. Yesterday, I couldn't even get a truncated service as I had a 90-minute Internet outage

That is the problem with services like Amazon, Netflix and the others - it's not as reliable as old-fashioned TV

Here in the sticks of Worthing our BT broadband is very slow by modern standards - probably about 1/10th of your 50Mbps. We can always watch Netflix et al in a very high quality without interruption.

The cricket is on here right now - we have a Mac Mini connected to the TV - and it's been ticking along happily since 11am.

Cowfold Seagull · Jul 30, 2015

Wozza said:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/cele...mond-and-james-may-for-new-show-10426102.html

Top Gear trio Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have signed to present a new car show on Amazon’s streaming service in one of the biggest coups in TV history.

The programme will air for the first time next year and be produced by former Top Gear executive Andy Wilman, an old school friend of Clarkson’s who is credited with revamping the format and turning it into the world’s most successful factual TV show.

The deal ends months of speculation about the future of the most bankable star on British TV following Clarkson’s spectacular departure from the BBC after 27 years.

BBC director general Tony Hall refused to renew the 55 year old’s contract after a notorious “fracas” at a Yorkshire hotel in March when Top Gear's frontman hit producer Oisin Tymon during a row about catering arrangements.

Co-presenters Hammond and May also bowed out saying that working with Clarkson’s replacement - later revealed to be Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans - was “a non-starter.”

Remind me to give it a miss.

Stat Brother · Jul 30, 2015

This is hardly worthy of a thread of it's on, but all this talk of subscription media etc brings this fact to mind:-

There are now over 500,000,000 streamed audio tracks in the UK, per WEEK.

This has doubled in a year, and going up exponentially.

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Amazon sign Clarkson, Hammond and James for new 'Top Gear' show

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