Top Gear 'Not Worth the Money' Amazon Paid: Netflix
Top Gear recently signed a deal with Amazon for a reported $250-million after being canned from the BBC, but a Netflix executive thinks the trio “wasn’t worth the money.”
Online streaming service Netflix was in discussions to distribute and produce the new show, but its chief product officer Neil Hunt has been quoted by Digital Spy as saying, “Clearly it wasn’t worth the money to make the deal… I think they sold themselves for way more money [than they’re worth].”
Hunt said that Netflix has a good gauge on what its audience likes, and having distributed past seasons of the popular show, he said there wasn’t enough data to back up paying such a huge amount of money.
ALSO SEE: New Amazon ‘Top Gear’ Reportedly has a $250M Budget
Amazon signed a deal earlier this summer to make 36 episodes of a new motoring show featuring the Top Gear trio that are each an hour long. The new show has not been titled yet, but the trio will get full editorial control. The new series will air in 2016.
With the Amazon deal, Jeremy Clarkson is reportedly making $15-million a year, making him one of the U.K.’s highest paid TV hosts. It has been reported that James May and Richard Hammond aren’t that far behind.
Clarkson was fired from the BBC after punching a show producer. May and Hammond stood behind Clarkson, saying that the only way they would do that show is if the trio was kept together.
[Source: Digital Spy]
Jodi has been obsessed with cars since she was little and has been an automotive journalist for the past 12 years. She has a Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and a jury member for the prestigious North American Car/Truck/Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY). Besides hosting videos, and writing news, reviews and features, Jodi is the Editor-in-Chief of AutoGuide.com and takes care of the site's day-to-day operations.
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There are a number of other cheaper ways to see past episodes than Netflix. It's the new episodes that fans of the show are waiting for. Top Gear isn't a drama like Game of Thrones or something where you go back and binge on old seasons.
Top Gear is one of the worst shows on TV and I am a car guy. Watching those idiots driving various cars is so damn boring. They try to be comedians which fail every single time. For Amazon to ante up so much money blows my mind. Total Failure coming.