[THE AMATUER]

I'm a big fan of Top Gear but after watching the last episode it actually hit me what a waste of licence payers money it is.

They bought a 8k Suburu and wrecked it after hiring the army out for the day so they could chase Clarkson around in a load of tanks and blow the car up.

They travel all around the world, basically on a jolly and having a whale of a time, all on a huge salary thats all funded by us licence payers. That show must cost millions, for what is basically a tongue in cheek and humorous look at cars that 99% of us couldn't afford to buy anyway.



(im only jealous really !!!)

[contraste]

Yes!

[SyStemDeMoN]

No no no no no no no!

[phairplay]

They didn't buy the Suburu it was a drug dealers and the courts were going to crush it. So TOP GEAR did it for them.


I like it

[eL-ZilCHo!]

But how much money do they make off the back of it? Selling the show in other countries, merchandise, etc?

I bet it's profitable.

Even if it's not. No at least its entertaining and not more bloody dancing or "talent" shows... shudder.

[Stoatman]

TO me Top Gear is by far the best show on television and if it ever gets stopped I may as well throw the PVR out of the window and just use the TV for films. Ok its contrved and childish but the latter is probably why I like it so much !.

[mda1974]

I imagine in the grand scheme of things, Top Gear is not a very expensive series to produce. Especially when you compare it to some of the period dramas the BBC produce.

I would think one of the biggest expenses would be fixing the Lacetti.

[Battlestar]

The thing is, you can say that about any program you dont like. Its a ratings winner for the BBC so they keep funding it. If people stopped watching , then it wouldnt get any money

[Bill Hicks]

8k on a Suburu!

Pah! that's nothing compared to the ridiculous amounts they spend on Hair products for James May, Nicorette gum for Clarkson & Cuban heels for the little fella!

[Uridium]

iirc Top Gear actually makes the BBC a profit due to the amount of worldwide networks they sell it to.

[Ice Tea]

If they get rid off TopGear then we would be left with that horrid low budget Fifth Gear.

[rcoundon]

Top Gear is the BBC's most popular international export. Selling it allows the BBC to top up the licence fee in order to make other, less mainstream shows.

So, whilst it is, no doubt, a large up-front investment, the return on that investment is massive. As channels like Dave and others around the world show older series, it means the revenue stream from the show is long and incremental.

Originally Posted by THE AMATUER

I'm a big fan of Top Gear but after watching the last episode it actually hit me what a waste of licence payers money it is.

They bought a 8k Suburu and wrecked it after hiring the army out for the day so they could chase Clarkson around in a load of tanks and blow the car up.

They travel all around the world, basically on a jolly and having a whale of a time, all on a huge salary thats all funded by us licence payers. That show must cost millions, for what is basically a tongue in cheek and humorous look at cars that 99% of us couldn't afford to buy anyway.



(im only jealous really !!!)

[mickevh]

Car porn, house porn, chefs or bickering chavs. Interesting to note which gets endlessly repeated on Dave.

I do find it interesting how TG manage to find a new way to tell the same story over and over again: "Here' a car, it's fast, loud and you can't afford it. And now the next car, it's fast, loud and you can't afford it. And the next fast, loud car you can't afford is..."

[Hakagure]

The BBC wastes huge amount of money on things like Jonathan Ross, he is paid £6,000,000 a year .. .. and he is a complete Richard Cranium.

Even if Top Gear cost that to run a year it would be good value as it is watched all over the world, I am sure they make money out of it or they wouldnt do it. Plus it is the last refuge for us non PC, retrosexual, white, heterosexual men now that Gene Hunt is off the screen. Its pure fun, doesnt take itself seriously and for me, is worth the licence fee on its own.

[Naaktgeboren]

It's comedy, pure and simple. If you watch topgear for any other reason you are just setting yourself up for disappointment.

There is a lot worse on tv that should go before top gear.

How about 5th Gear

[Codehead]

When the Veyron vs Typhoon race was being held outside my office, I did question the fuel and maintenance costs (Typhoon going at full belt is thirsty and needs a lot of work on the ground between flights). The race was run 4 or 5 times for the film crew to get all the shots. I was told the the Beeb were making a 'significant' contribution to those costs.

I dread to think how much that event cost, (They had two Veyrons ), but it was great fun to watch.

IMO, Top Gear is one of the best shows on the Beeb currently. I'm not interested in posh cars in the slightest, but I still watch it most weeks for the humour and banter.

[SyStemDeMoN]

For me, Top gear is 2nd only to anything David Attenborough does.

Some people may think that spending thousands on equipment, travel, food and labour just to get 2 minutes of footage of a particular animal a waste of money, but I bet its not many

[domtheone]

As has already been mentioned, i'm sure the show does not cost that much when you consider the income the Beeb must receive for the show.

As has already been mentioned too, paying JR 6 million a year is a huge waste of money.

Be it banking, tv celebrities, footballers, it's competely ott and about time something was done about it.

[treaclesponge]

Am I just being pedantic or shall I point out it was an Evo rather than a scooby........

[Singh400]

Well it's an entertainment program first and foremost. As long as it entertains me then I'll keep watching. Some episodes don't interest me at all, so I turn over.

I don't think the money thing is an issue, the BBC make alot of money over-seas selling this on (program and format). All my US friends love it. And I think AUS has their own version now.

[Scholes18]

Originally Posted by Singh400

Well it's an entertainment program first and foremost. As long as it entertains me then I'll keep watching. Some episodes don't interest me at all, so I turn over.

I don't think the money thing is an issue, the BBC make alot of money over-seas selling this on (program and format). All my US friends love it. And I think AUS has their own version now.

They do.... some good stuff on it ( youtube the eps )

Its not a wasted of money for me , its good to watch ,entertaining and like singh400 says it must make far more for BBC worldwide than it does to make it.

[SimonH]

Doesn't matter who you speak to in what country they know of Top Gear,its really quite strange. Yanks love it, because their cars shows are awful as the presenters have to tippy toe around the sponsors/car manufacturers.

It's one of the most popular shows on BBC America and they also run the previous series on the Yank equivalents of Dave.

It's sold almost globally, although in parts it appears quite lavish I suspect it's one of the few that commercially makes a ROI.

[JohnG]

It's not the money I'm worried about it's the fact that I think the quality is slipping a bit now and they are running out of decent ideas. They've rather backed themselves into a corner shunning proper "boring" car reviews (as they would call them) and have gone for the "Wacky Races" type of reviews.
Maybe it's time for a revamp and a rethink of the show as in my view a lot of it is getting too silly and pointless now.

[Kebabhead]

Some people need to watch Top gear of old i.e Noel Edmunds, William Wollard then you'd have something to complain about

[Fred Quimby]

No,but their mickey take in the southern American states was stupid and dangerous.

Did it cross their minds that some poor British tourist might of been behind them and copped some nasty flack.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by JohnG

Maybe it's time for a revamp and a rethink of the show as in my view a lot of it is getting too silly and pointless now.

But the problem with that is, you can't please all the people all of the time. What you feel is a silly and stupid program is loved by millions so if they revamp it to your requirements .... well the side effect is obvious.

I'm not really sure how they could revamp the show other than turning it into a more serious review based program which would be criminal.

That's what the other shows do and generally are duller than dishwater.

I realise it's all personal taste but I'll take TG over a traditional "here's a fiesta lets examine it's mpg figures" any day.

[Kebabhead]

It's nice to have some British global success in TV rather than relying on all the American crap we import here

[JohnG]

I don't mind the format they use at the moment as long as it's entertaining. I just watch it without thinking about it and forget all the facts about them telling lies about things and things being staged and set up and sit back and enjoy it as a bit of fun.
But recently they've just not been up to their usual standards I feel. They've hardly done any car reviews, they come up with stupid lies about being chased by live ammunition bearing army vehicles and every car review they do either involves a drag race or a race around the track. They lied about the Tesla car running out of fuel so I'm not sure what I can trust now.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by JohnG

But recently they've just not been up to their usual standards I feel. They've hardly done any car reviews, they come up with stupid lies about being chased by live ammunition bearing army vehicles .

? I don't understand why people say they are lieing, it's fictional fun TV. They arn't trying to fool you, you're not actually supposed to believe the British Army are opening fire on Jeremy with live ammunition!!!!

It's not a lie, it's entertainment, It's an odd context from which to view the show from.

They went to great pains after the segment with RH and JC making a mockery of the scene , it was a tongue in cheek bit of tomfoolery.

[JohnG]

It still doesn't excuse the fact that they lied or mislead everyone about a car in a review they did.