Netflix ponders Top Gear move

Top Gear line-up Chris Harris, Evans, LeBlanc, Schmitz and Rory Reid

Netflix is reportedly in talks to acquire the BBC’s forthcoming Top Gear reboot, in a move that could see it go head-to-head with Jeremy Clarkson’s motoring show on rival streamer Amazon Prime.

Netflix already offers old episodes of the BBC2 show, which has been sold into more than 200 territories.

But it’s understood that the US SVoD service is now in early talks with BBC Worldwide (BBCWW), the BBC’s commercial arm, to pick up new episodes of the show.

BBCWW led its sales slate at last month’s Showcase event with the new show, to be fronted by Chris Evans who took over from Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond following Clarkson’s confrontation with a producer last year.

If Netflix was to acquire the BBC’s revamped show, which is co-hosted by former Friends star Matt LeBlanc, it would see it take on Clarkson, May and Hammond’s new car show on Amazon this autumn.

This is likely to cause some concern to Amazon, which paid a reported £160m (US$226m) to hire the former Top Gear trio as well as executive producer Andy Wilman.

Netflix and the BBC have declined to comment.

While at Showcase, new Top Gear presenter LeBlanc told C21 the show will reach out further to viewers in the US and beyond when it launches in May.

In related news, a new report has shown that Netflix accounted for around half of the overall 3% decline in TV viewing among US audiences last year.

The study, made by Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson, also predicted that Netflix’s total streaming hours as a percentage of TV viewing will continue to rise to around 14% by 2020.