Top Gear UK & AUS switches to Channel Nine

[armthehomeless]

THE Nine Network has poached cult motoring show Top Gear from SBS. Nine's deal with BBC Worldwide Australia includes both the British and Australian versions of the show.
David Gyngell, Nine's chief executive, described the Top Gear agreement as a landmark partnership with BBC Worldwide.

"We are genuinely excited to have Top Gear under the Nine banner and look forward to bringing it to an even wider audience,'' he said in a statement.

Top Gear is seen in more than 120 countries and has enjoyed enormous success in Australia in recent years.

No decision has yet been made on who will front Top Gear Australia or when it will begin on Nine.

The UK version, starring Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond and The Stig, will be on Nine from early 2010.

[Source: The Couriermail]

[Watto]

So that will mean the reduced UK show (there is a shorter version for commercial markets) and 20 minutes of commercials! Perhaps Channel 9 will get Glenn Ridge to host the show!!

[MISSMPS]

It has ads now though??? Doesnt it???

[nissanman]

Love topgear. doesnt bother me what station it is on. i download and archive all the episodes

I would say its my No1. Show!... UK Top gear that is..
AUS is a bit meh, still ok to watch though

[bd581]

Please don't let glen ridge have anything to do with the show. The car show is pathetic. And I hope channel 9 don't turn it into a hour long commercial like every other car program on tv

unlike most, I quite like the Aussie version, they do look at the technical aspect to cars, and actually talk about the car, good and bad.
as funny as clarkson is, his reviews of cars are mostly pointless and more about funny insults.
Also the Brit version feature mostly cars that are irrelivent to Australians. So I thing the Aussie version compliments the Brit version nicely
I don't think it's fair to compare the two shows, at least not for a few more seasons. First few years of top gear uk were pretty bad

[hatchmps]

I think its highly unlikely Glenn Ridge will have anything to do with the program, I think they'd opt for someone with a bit of a profile.

I know Top Gear Australia will continue to be produced by a company called Freehand, who produced it for SBS. Given Nine has probably paid more for it, it will mean they'll have more money to make it the show it should have been in the first place. The BBC will have pretty strict guidelines regarding how much advertising can be done within the actual program (not the ad breaks), so I don't reckon there will be that much.

SBS did run breaks in the UK version, but Nine runs different structured ad breaks so I think we'll see more ads as a result.

[tricache]

NOOOOOOooooo Not Channel Nine!! The show will be half the size!

[shakespeare]

NOOOOOOooooo Not Channel Nine!! The show will be half the size!

+1 too many adverts on Commercial TV, I never watch it. SBS has adverts too but much fewer and shorter.

Darly Somers, Ozzie Ostrich and Molly Meldrum for TG Australia

Or if The ABC bought it Jay and The Doctor could do TG Aus

[tricache]

The Doctor would be AWESOME on TG!!!

[Team Green]

Channel 9 sux's