China remakes BBC’s Top Gear

Chinese satcaster Shanghai Dragon TV and video-on-demand service iQiyi.com is set to broadcast a local version of BBC motoring format Top Gear.

The show is being produced by Chinese multimedia group Honyee Media and has been slated to air in early November. Filming will begin this summer in locations such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shanghai, Beijing and Wuxi.

The Chinese version will feature well-known elements of the BBC show, such as Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and a Chinese version of enigmatic test driver The Stig, with the three presenters yet to be revealed.

Both Shanghai Dragon and iQiyi.com currently carry the UK version of the show while the VoD service also airs the US and South Korean remakes.

The deal with BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) has given Honyee rights to advertising investment and promotion of the Top Gear brand, along with future TV and online sales of the programme.

Richard Zhang, general manager of Honyee, said Top Gear had “huge potential in China,” while Pierre Cheung, VP and general manager of BBCWW Greater China, added that the local version would build on the success of the brand in the region.

Top Gear, which is the most-watched factual programme in the world, according to Guinness World Records, has already been sold into more than 200 territories.