Tis The Season For More New Shows

Michael Hedges August 3, 2015 Follow on Twitter

Almost everybody likes a surprise, children in particular and television viewers. Accountants do not. The TV world thrives on the serendipity of something new intersecting with something known. Creating that surprise is the art attracting viewers and, now, subscribers. There is no formula.

Drawing the attention of British motor-heads the cast formerly associated with public broadcaster BBC’s Top Gear show signed up to a three season deal with subscription video on demand service (SVoD) Amazon Prime. E-commerce giant Amazon, owner of Amazon Prime, is putting up US$250 million, reported the Financial Times (July 30). For the media world it is but another step - leap, maybe - into the future.

The BBC suspended Top Gear’s star - Jeremy Clarkson - last March after a long series of star-quality incidents culminating with a crew-member punched and humiliated. BBC lawyers looked for and found an escape clause; shortly thereafter his contract was not renewed. Two side-kicks and the show’s long-serving producer headed for the exits. Unfamiliar with the BBC’s absolute ownership of the Top Gear brand and format, not to forget magazine and website, Mr. Clarkson’s UK fans, as fans will do, predicted the show would certainly vanish.

Immediately thereon, if not earlier, rumors swirled about other UK broadcasters visiting the idea of scooping up the show’s cast for a new motor-head show. Even Russia’s Channel One issued an invitation, perhaps in jest. Betting houses saw pay-TV operator Sky UK, formerly known as BSkyB, as the obvious new home of Clarkson and friends. “We couldn’t put Jeremy Clarkson on any Sky channels, especially those which are part of a family package deal and then face another controversy round the corner,” said an anonymous “senior source” to Radio Times (March 25). Business is business after all. Sky UK is part of newly formed Sky PLC and principally owned by 21st Century Fox.

Attention quickly turned to ITV, desperately in need of an attention-getting show. After a meeting with ITV television director Peter Fincham the former Top Gear crew learned about the restrictive covenant in their BBC contracts that prevents them from participating in a motor-head show on another UK broadcaster for two years after termination. Mr. Fincham is acutely aware of BBC talent contracts - and lawyers - having directed BBC One prior to joining ITV.

Contract language, apparently, does not preclude online shows or appearances leading, so say the stories, to subscription video on demand (SVoD) services Netflix and Amazon Prime. And absence from the screen - any screen - is a tickling clock no talent agent wants to hear. The people at Netflix talked longer, then walked away. Amazon will begin production of the yet-to-be named motor-head show for a 2016 debut. Netflix continues to offer subscribers archive Top Gear shows.

None of this has exactly sent BBC people reeling, British politicians far more threatening. Top Gear has been a fixture on BBC Two for a dozen years and it brings in about GB£ 50 million (€70 million) a year to licensing and distribution subsidiary BBC Worldwide. A new primary host for Top Gear was named, well-known and less contrary Radio 2 morning (breakfast) show host Chris Evans. Former BBC producer Lisa Clark, with loads of comedy experience, has been named executive producer. Mr. Evans has been talking up the possibility of F1 driver Jensen Button joining the new team.

And, too, the Top Gear worldwide footprint will expand next year with an Italian-language version (Top Gear Italia) produced by Sky Italia and available on pay-TV channel Sky Uno. Sky Italia with Sky UK and Sky Deutschland are part of he 21st Century Fox Sky PLC unit, perhaps in part underlying the reticence in taking on a new, untested, motor-head show with Mr. Clarkson. A German version, produced by RTL, is also planned for next year. Top Gear France, produced by BBC Worldwide France and broadcast on digital channel RMC Decouverte (NextRadioTV), was a “surprise hit,” said Le Figaro (March 23), when it debuted this past spring with an all-French cast.

For Amazon taking on an unscripted show is a calculated risk. Amazon Prime subscriptions offer a variety of online services, most recently music streaming and photo sharing. The company does not report subscriber data. An unknown television product, even with a known UK cast, could bolster subscriptions, certainly in the UK and perhaps farther afield. But Amazon is - first and foremost - an online retailer, television simply being one more product.

By contrast Netflix has made its mark with original TV productions and commissions, almost entirely scripted. Goofy comedy Hot Wet American Summer is an overnight sensation. The SVoD service will offer an astronomical 57 new shows this year, including the critically acclaimed film Beasts Of No Nation. UK subscribers have been estimated this year at or approaching 5 million, worldwide 65 million.

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