Despite rumors of a deal with Netflix another streaming giant will re-unite the three former Top Gear hosts. The new auto show will start streaming on Amazon next year.
Starting in 2016
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are best known for BBC's extremely popular "Top Gear" auto show that was estimated to have about 350 million viewers worldwide. Earlier this year, BBC and the trio parted ways.
The trio has reportedly been in talks with Netflix and British ITV but in the end they signed an agreement with Amazon. The retail giant is pushing its fast-growing Amazon Instant Video streaming service that is operating in the US, Germany, the UK and other some countries. The new show will be available exclusively on Amazon in its existing markets and Amazon says that it will license it to broadcasters other regions.
The new show will be produced by Andy Wilman who also produced the show for BBC. The parties have signed a three year contract. Amazon says that they have made an "significant investment” but is not giving out numbers. The name of the new show has not been announced either.
- ”We can't wait to see what Jeremy, Richard, James and the team will create in what is sure to be one of the most globally anticipated shows of 2016,” said Jay Marine, vice president hos Amazon Prime Video EU.
Production will kick off this fall and the first episode will start streaming in 2016. Amazon recently started producing TV series and will soon start producing movies, too.
- Source: Amazon & WSJ
