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



Wozza

Wozza

Shite Supporter
Jul 6, 2003
23,614
Online
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.”
 








Man of Harveys

Man of Harveys

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2003
18,734
Brighton, UK
Even old man Steptoe's hat was less of an old hat than that.
 








GOM

GOM

living vicariously
Aug 8, 2005
3,225
Leeds - but not the dirty bit
Just a word of advice to anyone that is not a fan..........you are not obliged to watch the shows.
 


Simster

Simster

"the man's an arse"
Jul 7, 2003
54,180
Surrey
GOM said:
Just a word of advice to anyone that is not a fan..........you are not obliged to watch the shows.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. Handy that it's been moved to North Norfolk Digital then, where you really do have to go looking to find it, as they really are a bunch of pricks.
 








Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo

Waxing chumps like candles since ‘75
Oct 4, 2003
11,047
Withdean11 said:
Forgive me for my ignorance, but how would one go about watching Amazon? Is there a sky channel?

Love Top Gear. BBC are going to regret their decision.
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It will be available to all Prime members. You'll need either a smart TV which carries the Amazon app or a smart phone to watch it. Amazon Prime is about £80 a year.
 




Gritt23

Gritt23

New member
Jul 7, 2003
14,902
Meopham, Kent.
TomandJerry said:
Top Gear has a following, great news for Amazon!
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Indeed.

They sell so much, and Amazon Prime saves you money on shipping, and I think has benefits with downloadable stuff like books. Roll in a Smart TV channel, and they are quietly building a very neat little product there.

They have the money to make an almightly splash at some point with rights to live sport. This deal could just be the first of many.
 


Gullflyinghigh

Gullflyinghigh

Registered User
Apr 23, 2012
4,279
Great news for those that are fans and already have Amazon but is it likely to actually cause an increase in subscriptions?

I know it's one of the most watched shows out there but I can't imagine many people would pay extra for the privilege. On TV it didn't have much in the way of competition on a Sunday night, online offerings might be a little harder to conquer.
 


Biscuit

Biscuit

Native Creative
Jul 8, 2003
22,217
Brighton
Gullflyinghigh said:
Great news for those that are fans and already have Amazon but is it likely to actually cause an increase in subscriptions?

I know it's one of the most watched shows out there but I can't imagine many people would pay extra for the privilege. On TV it didn't have much in the way of competition on a Sunday night, online offerings might be a little harder to conquer.
Click to expand...

It's certainly a gamble, but a pretty calculated one. The way people are consuming TV is changing massively. TV viewing in the UK fell 4.5 per cent last year. Viewers are increasingly using tablets and laptops to view video online, which was up 17 per cent year on year. If you extrapolate that trend you can see where we're going. Apple TV and Netflix work seamlessly with my usual TV habits and I use them like I would any other digital channel. i.e switching from BBC One to Netflix, is for me, as easy as switching from BBC One to ITV. It's easy. It's also way better for advertisers as they can monitor the demographic that watches their ads and target specific groups incredibly easily. As more funding pours in, the better the quality of the programmes will be and the more people will watch.

Will it make more people subscribe? We'll have to wait and see, but it's all part of a turning tide in viewing habits. Perhaps it's not the straw to break the camels back, but it's another big load for it to bear.
 




Bozza

Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,717
Back in Sussex
Simster said:
A "North Norfolk Digital"-tastic move for the racist and his tedious sidekicks.

Lovely stuff.
Click to expand...

That's a strange outlook.

Amazon will be paying them gazillions, give or take, for this and it's just part of this ongoing move for original content to be owned by the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. YouTube have been trying to get in on the act too and it's not inconceivable that Apple and Facebook will look at similar moves sooner rather than later.

I read this piece yesterday on why Spotify should give Howard Stern £1bn to move his show to them exclusively. When you read the headline you think "as if", but when you look at the numbers, it does actually seem easily possible.
 


Blue Valkyrie

Blue Valkyrie

Not seen such Bravery!
Sep 1, 2012
32,165
Valhalla
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo said:
It will be available to all Prime members. You'll need either a smart TV which carries the Amazon app or a smart phone to watch it. Amazon Prime is about £80 a year.
Click to expand...
Can't be bothered with all that shenanigans, logging onto a website for TV is as advanced as it gets for me :lolol:
 


Man of Harveys

Man of Harveys

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2003
18,734
Brighton, UK
Simster said:
A "North Norfolk Digital"-tastic move for the racist and his tedious sidekicks.

Lovely stuff.
Click to expand...

Textbook drive through the covers for four. Well played sir.
 


Bozza

Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,717
Back in Sussex
Gullflyinghigh said:
Great news for those that are fans and already have Amazon but is it likely to actually cause an increase in subscriptions?

I know it's one of the most watched shows out there but I can't imagine many people would pay extra for the privilege. On TV it didn't have much in the way of competition on a Sunday night, online offerings might be a little harder to conquer.
Click to expand...

Amazon keep adding to their Prime package. Originally people did it so that they could order from Amazon and get stuff delivered to them the next day. For a lot of folk, that was worth it. They then bundled the video streaming service (the old LoveFilm) in wth it.

You can also 'borrow' books from their 500,000 book lending library for Kindle and Kindle apps.

Only a day or two ago, they announced a Spotify-like music streaming service. The range of tracks is not as broad as Spotify, but again it's included in your Prime membership for no extra charge.

You can even backup ALL your photos to the cloud, negating the need to pay for a service like Dropbox.

And all of this for £79 a year.
 




Simster

Simster

"the man's an arse"
Jul 7, 2003
54,180
Surrey
Bozza said:
That's a strange outlook.

Amazon will be paying them gazillions, give or take, for this and it's just part of this ongoing move for original content to be owned by the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. YouTube have been trying to get in on the act too and it's not inconceivable that Apple and Facebook will look at similar moves sooner rather than later.

I read this piece yesterday on why Spotify should give Howard Stern £1bn to move his show to them exclusively. When you read the headline you think "as if", but when you look at the numbers, it does actually seem easily possible.
Click to expand...

Strange outlook? As a consumer, I am pleased to say it is going to be 100 times easier to avoid these muppets than it was before, because like North Norfolk Digital, it is a case of "out of sight, out of mind". I don't doubt it is a risky move from Amazon that could prove to be brilliant. But I'm sure Clarkson would have preferred being paid a fortune along with the exposure on main stream television. And equally, I'm confident that even if there are plenty of top gear fans out there, not many will subscribe to Amazon purely to watch them again. There will simply be another talent-free offensive "it's PC gone mad isn't it" tosspot on mainstream television soon enough to take his place.

Regardless of the risks involved It's the equivalent of giving up a test match career by following the money playing in six T20 matches in India.
 


edna krabappel

edna krabappel

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
47,221
Simster said:
Strange outlook? As a consumer, I am pleased to say it is going to be 100 times easier to avoid these muppets than it was before, because like North Norfolk Digital, it is a case of "out of sight, out of mind". I don't doubt it is a risky move from Amazon that could prove to be brilliant. But I'm sure Clarkson would have preferred being paid a fortune along with the exposure on main stream television. And equally, I'm confident that even if there are plenty of top gear fans out there, not many will subscribe to Amazon purely to watch them again. There will simply be another talent-free offensive "it's PC gone mad isn't it" tosspot on mainstream television soon enough to take his place.

Regardless of the risks involved It's the equivalent of giving up a test match career by following the money playing in six T20 matches in India.
Click to expand...


Probably in Bangladesh, I'd say.
 


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