Quote:
Originally Posted by shiro666
The biggest problem with a US Top Gear is the advertisers. The BBC funds the show through the Government, so completely impartial reviews are possible because there is no pressure by ad people.
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BBC gets more money for selling Top Gear abroad than from their own government budget. Top Gear is one of BBC's great incomes. In todays TV-world all big companies sell "formats" so if some company in the States is going to make a US-version of Top Gear they will have to pay BBC royalty. The market for TV-show formats is huge. Survivor was a Swedish format and that production company has made huge money on royalties over the years.
Just see what Clarkson, May and the Hamster drives privately. They have big time pay checks. And much of the popularity of the show is from those characters and their boyish style. Just saw yesterday when they went to the North Pole.
Anything else will just be a poor copycat.
Jan