Top Gear is currently in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most-watched factual TV programme in the world. Thanks to the BBC’s brilliant record of shipping its programmes worldwide, it’s a show that’s watched by 350 million people in some 214 territories.
As a brand there’s not much bigger, so the news from Buzzfeed that Netflix has secured the rights to Top Gear outside of the UK is massive. It’s yet another step to make sure that its main streaming rival, Amazon Prime, doesn’t find itself in Pole Position with the rival show it’s creating with Top Gear alumni Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
There’s no doubting that Clarkson and co’s car show will be big but, for Amazon, it has to be big. The sum it paid to have the rights to the series is vast.
The only reason the show is parked with Amazon is because of a big bidding war. As Netflix CEO Ted Sandros told Buzzfeed: “They bid themselves out to many people and to the highest price, like most creators do. It’s a natural process and Amazon paid the highest price.”
Worth a lot
Netflix hasn’t done this with Top Gear. It hasn’t had to pay the millions for the hosts. It hasn’t had to pay the millions for the stunts. And if it is indeed part of its current deal with the BBC, then it’s very unlikely to have dipped much further into its own vast pockets to secure the license.
The outlay, then, is minimal while Amazon chief Jeff Bezos told the Telegraph that its car show will be “very, very, very expensive,” for Amazon. “They’re worth a lot and they know it.”
According to The Financial Times “a lot” equates to £160 million ($250m).
The BBC used to make £50 million a year out of Top Gear, which included DVD sales, merchandise and live shows. Oh, and its ability to sell the series globally, according to the Guardian. For Amazon to just break even over the contracted three series it will have to better this.
There is no doubt, for Amazon, the car show it will get from Clarkson and co will be the biggest show ever for Amazon Prime, possibly ever. The kudos that comes signing up three former Top Gear stars is massive, as is the press, but then so is the weight of their pay checks.
House mates
It’s clear that Amazon hopes to one day oust Netflix as the streaming king but it still has a long way to go. So far, it’s made some brave if clumsy decisions to push Amazon Prime as much as it can.
Currently for £79 ($99) you can get Amazon Prime bundled with free one-day delivery, Amazon Music, the Prime Kindle eBook Library, Prime Music and Prime Photo storage. It’s so close to throwing in the kitchen sink, yet people still prefer Netflix.
According to research by Enders Analysis, in the UK, Netflix is outpacing all of the current VOD offerings combined.
It believes that in 2015 Netflix saw 37% growth, adding 1.8 million new subscribers pushing its user base to 5.2 million. In contrast Amazon Prime, according to the same research, has just 1.6 million paying subscribers.
How has Netflix done this? Through savvy advertising and clever show creation. Netflix will always be known as the house that House of Cards built but then there’s also Daredevil, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad’s final season, Orange is the New Black… it’s had hit after hit, or at least perceived hits given it rarely gives out its viewing figures.
Amazon Prime’s Originals success has also been fantastic – thanks to Emmy-embraced shows like Transparent – but fleeting. Amazon has yet to ride the wave of success as well as Netflix.
Which brings us back to that car show. Clarkson, May and Hammond are Amazon’s best shot yet at driving Prime into the prime time, but if it thinks it has bought something more powerful than the Top Gear brand, then it needs to come up with yet another plan.
Source: techradar.com
do you mean netflix has the new BBC top gear, while the BBC will be showing it for FREE (on freeview) in the UK??
I also hear you have to wait a long time for BBC show on netflix, sometimes AFTER it has finished in UK…
No, I wouldn't bother.
if you can, please use 'BBC top gear' , so we know what you mean 🙂 🙂
Yes, BBC has had lots of issues, it just depends on the 'new viewers'..
ya do know that 'top gear' is *owned* by BBC.. So Amazon CANNOT use it!
They are still deciding on a name!
I would like 'JCH car show' but a more 'jazzy' title would be 'Three Car Maniacs'…
As long as Amazon stays away from Chromecast I wont be subscribing!
The main issue here that needs addressing is that Clarkson, Captain slow, and the Gerbil are known quantities with a huge fan base.
New top gear has been beset with production issues and bad press.
Too many presenters and bad ones at that.
The Idea that you are talking about the same show still is laughable. I personally think it will sink without trace. Its just the BBC desperate to keep its cash cow going that has the show being made any longer.
Don't know how it works but without the two original stars the show is worthless, in my opinion. But I'm not a Harvard MBA so what do I know? Since "globalization" became the way to immense wealth there are hardly any manufacturers of ANYTHING that are actually run by people who know the business because an MBA doesn't have to know what's good or what sells, he just has to crunch the numbers to come up with the plan his bosses tell him they want. When it fails the bosses get a raise, a better job and more opportunity to break things with another huge multinational.
He assaulted a member of staff, even Clarkson said he should have been fired too so why is it bad for you if the man himself agrees with everything that happened to him?!
God give me strength!
Yes, exactly and the fact that the BBC is run by a bunch of f=gs.
I was a bit miffed at the way they handled the Clarkson affair.
It might benefit Netflix if the new Top Gear pans out but Amazon are assured of the Madness of former Top Gear clue, watched every single season of it, assured of a successful show and even i am considering subscribing to Amazon because of the Three, Netflix will be hanging on a thread like we have seen before, if the show fails, they go to a loss if the show succeeds like the previous one (i hope it does) BBC gets more bargaining power and you all know what happens after that, it disappears from Netflix
You are forgetting something that amazon has up its sleeve vs netflix – offline viewing. Going on a flight, train journey or commute where you dont have network – you can still watch films/tv shows
An important difference is that amazon prime hasn't got a monthly option. It's effectively an annual subscription, so to even watch one episode of the new show would mean a £79 outlay. And if people have prime, they will buy from amazon more anyhow. So that stickiness matters too.
Netflix has neither.
Netflix done f'ed up. The show is a loser without the original cast.
I guess for the older viewers who remember the original top gear we know its never over and not the first time its gone under a format shift so lets just wait and see. They didnt fire him either, they didnt renew. But as said Clarkson himself admits he should have been given the boot.
Why have you seen it?
Older!!!!???? The show w/ Clarkson just went off the air less than a year ago.
It's bad for me because now the show is over, pretty simple really. Oh and the BCC is run by a bunch of f=gs too, don't forget that. Clarkson should have hit him harder and they fired the wrong guy.
So you just presuming on prejudice and not based on any real information.
Amazon Prime Instant video is £5.99 per month with a 30 day free trial. You will only get the VOD and not the rest of the benefits such as next day delivery etc