The Grand Tour Top Gear

Clarkson & Co ‘not worth £160m’

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are not worth the £160 million Amazon has agreed to pay for their services, according to its arch-rival, Netflix.

Representatives from Netflix were reported to have met Clarkson and co to discuss the prospect of producing a new motoring show with them after they left the BBC, but in the end the former Top Gear trio signed with Amazon.

And now Netflix’s chief product officer, Neil Hunt, says Clarkson is not worth the money Amazon has set aside for his series.

Hunt told Digital Spy: “We have past episodes of Top Gear, so we have a pretty good gauge of what audiences like.

“Our buying decisions tend to be somewhat data-driven. We have a lot of data to get the deals we want, so there we go.

“Clearly it wasn’t worth the money to make the deal… I think they sold themselves for way more money [than they’re worth].”

netflix-1

Netflix was considered a frontrunner in the bidding war that began after Clarkson was dropped by the BBC for punching a colleague in the face. ITV and Sky were also said to be in the running, but eventually the 55-year-old presenter signed with Prime, Amazon’s instant video service, for £160 million.

The sum will give Clarkson a budget of £4.4 million for each of the forthcoming show’s 36 episodes. The BBC reportedly spent £500,000 on each episode of Top Gear during Clarkson’s long reign.

The new Amazon show will go into production next year and will be broadcast in the autumn, several months after Chris Evans’ rebooted Top Gear. Fans of the old team will have to pay £79 to sign up to Amazon’s streaming service, whereas Evans’ Top Gear will be covered by the licence fee.

Related posts

‘Funeral for a Ford’ – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 14 Preview

Sean McKellar

‘Survival of the fattest’ – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 13 Preview

Sean McKellar

‘Legends and luggage’ – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 12 Preview

Sean McKellar

James May is Our Man In…Japan

Sean McKellar

‘Sea to unsalty sea’ – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 11 Preview

Sean McKellar

‘The Youth Vote’ – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 10 Preview

Sean McKellar

3 comments

Richard Stringer September 14, 2015 at 4:17 am

Clarkson is arrogant though and has been for a few years now, he definately appears to have taken advantage of Amazon’s desperation to broadcast Top Gear.

Reply
the guy with no name September 14, 2015 at 7:16 am

And why shouldn’t he? They’ve gotten desperate, as you said, and he’s got them by the balls, it’s just business.

Reply
the guy with no name September 11, 2015 at 4:08 am

I smell jealousy lol. I bet if Netflix were in Amazon they would be giving a similar budget.

Reply

Leave a Reply to the guy with no name Cancel Reply