Richard Hammond


Amazon’s global profile sparks Grand Tour format change

Jeremy Clarkson has said that The Grand Tour’s increasingly international profile on Amazon Prime Video has led to key changes that make the motoring format more global-facing. The presenter, who hosts the series with Richard Hammond and James May, said various format points were evaluated ahead of the show’s third series, which debuts on Friday (18 January) […]

Amazon claims Grand Tour smashes ratings record

New Jeremy Clarkson vehicle The Grand Tour has become Amazon Prime Video’s biggest premiere launch, the streaming site has claimed. E-commerce giant Amazon reported “millions of Prime members” in the US, UK, Germany, Austria and Japan had streamed the series’ first episode over the weekend. This means the big-budget petrolhead series replaces Frank Spotnitz-created drama […]

Amazon preps global launch for The Grand Tour

Amazon’s Top Gear rival The Grand Tour will hit 200 countries later this year, but the launch does not mark the global rollout of the Amazon Prime SVOD service, TBI understands. The Grand Tour will launch in Amazon Prime Video territories Germany, Japan, the UK and the US this Friday (November 18), it was revealed […]

BBC extends Matt LeBlanc’s Top Gear journey

UK pubcaster the BBC has confirmed Matt LeBlanc will remain as host of motoring series Top Gear for two years, providing a major boost to the ailing format. LeBlanc was a hit with viewers in the first season of Top Gear not to feature Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May since 2002, though co-host […]

Apple, Amazon, and the exclusivity paradox

Rob Gallagher, director of research and analysis, media and entertainment at research house Ovum, muses on the reasoning behind and potential impact of Amazon Prime Instant Video’s reported £150 million deal to acquire the service of the former Top Gear presenting trio. If content is king, then exclusive TV is the king of content. That’s […]

Bezos: ‘Clarkson series very, very, very expensive’

Jeff Bezos has said Amazon’s upcoming motoring series with the former Top Gear team will be ‘very, very, very expensive”. The Amazon founder and CEO told UK newspaper The Telegraph that recruiting the Top Gear team, who left the BBC show in the wake of a scandal that involved star presenter Jeremy Clarkson hitting a […]

Amazon signs Top Gear team for motoring show

Amazon Prime Instant Video has won the battle to sign former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. Amazon fought off competition from the likes of SVOD rival Netflix and UK commercial broadcaster ITV for the sought-after trio (pictured above). Former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman also comes as part of […]

Chris Evans takes Clarkson’s Top Gear post

Chris Evans will succeed Jeremy Clarkson as presenter of the BBC’s money-spinning petrol-head fact-ent series Top Gear. Evans (pictured), currently co-presenter of daily series The One Show and a BBC Radio 2 breakfast DJ, has signed a three-year deal to present the show, which BBC Productions will produce for UK channel BBC Two. Former presenting […]

UKTV orders comedy series Crackanory from Endemol’s Tiger Aspect

Channel operator UKTV has ordered an original comedy series Crackanory from Tiger Aspect, the UK production company owned by Endemol. The 6x40mins series will air on UKTV’s entertainment channel Dave. A grown-up take on the classic British kids storytelling show Jackanory, it will feature a roster of well-known UK comics and celebrities including Harry Enfield, […]