The BBC’s loss is seemingly Amazon’s gain—shortly after HR at the BBC refused to renew Jeremy Clarkson’s contract following a “fracas” with a producer, the Top Gear star and his two co-presenters, Richard Hammond and James May have already signed up for a new motoring show with the online giant.
The trio will present the new show as part of a three series deal for Amazon Prime with the first season expecting to be off the starting line by 2016. With this it seems that, despite a string of controversies, a talent for pulling viewing figures of around 350 million people across 100 countries worldwide can eclipse misgivings when looking for such talent.
Having the Top Gear presenters is likely to boost Amazon's standing as key competitors to long-standing video streaming giant, Netflix, who in recent years have been lifted by their involvement in production of shows such as the hit US series, House of Cards. Speaking about their recent star catch, Jay Marine, EU vice-president, Amazon Prime Video said, “Our approach is to give programme makers creative freedom to be innovative and make the shows they want to make. This is just the start, you should expect to see more world-leading talent and the biggest shows on Prime Video."
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
