Despite Mass Criticism, The First Episode Of ‘New’ Top Gear Was Officially A Hit
It’s pretty clear from the reactions on our live discussion that most of you guys didn’t really take to the first episode of new Top Gear. In fact, the poll we ran yesterday revealed that a whopping 24 per cent of you scored the episode as a 1 out of 10…
Twitter seemed full to the brim with complaints, too, while reviews have been less than favourable. However, in terms of raw numbers, the first episode was actually a hit.
The new Top Gear is a hit. OFFICIALLY. 23 % audience share. 12% MORE than the opening episode of the last series. These are the FACTS.;— achrisevans
Top Gear audience grew throughout the hour. FACT. Won its slot. FACT. Still number one on i Player. FACT. These are THE FACTS folks.;— achrisevans
In a series of Tweets, host Chris Evans revealed that the show enjoyed a massive 23 per cent audience share, representing a 12 per cent increase on the first episode of series 22 when the show was still presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Top Gear i Player views now at 1.1 million. Rock n roll ! Thank you. Team and channel totally thrilled.;— achrisevans
The caveat here is that the intrigue surrounding just what the show would be like in the post-Clarkson era will have no doubt fuelled the apparent popularity; the acid test will be the figures for the second and third episodes. However, it seems people weren’t switching off, because the audience actually grew throughout the airing. Evans also revealed this morning that iPlayer views have topped one million.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
It was a huge hit only because we were expecting a mediocre show with new ideas and old cinematography after a stale show which honestly got old. We did not expect a turd sandwich. In any case, whatever makes him feel better, I’m done being interested in him and the show as a whole, waiting for Grand Tour to disappoint with exactly the same format as TG and same stale jokes. When that doesn’t - it’ll be a nice change of pace, when it does I won’t be bummed out.
According to Chris Evans, Chris Evans did quite well.
FACT.
The reason the views were so high (according to Evans at least… I’ll leave it at that…) is simply curiosity. I’ll admit, I didn’t hate it, but there is definitely some improvement needed. If Evans calmed down and stopped poking fun at old TG, he could be good. He has potential. Matt LeBlanc was very good, though, which surprised me. But I agree with most others, though, the “stupid American” act he has going got old very fast. Chris Harris DEFINITELY needed more screen time, I really wanted to hear more from him after watching Extra Gear.
My two cents worth - numbers speak for nothing. He can scream and shout about it all he wants (and he’s proved he’s good at shouting). Just because loads of people tuned in doesn’t make it a success, figures don’t tell you anything. Many of those numbers are the same people slating it all over the Internet and like people have said it will be those same individuals who don’t tune in next week, giving a much clearer indication of ‘success’
Who gives a flying f**k about numbers? First of all, more people watched this because it was the first episode. And second, if you have to go on Twitter and scream about numbers, clearly you don’t have much confidence that the show is in fact good. If you really had a good show you wouldn’t brag about such things and just let the show do the talking. The old boys certainly never bragged about numbers or worried about the haters? Why? They didn’t need to. FACT.
Was very disappointed with the episode. It lacked personality it was like I was being shouted at by a little boy who could not stand still. Wasn’t a fan of the hole just listing specs with the car reviews its taking top gear from being unique to like an older car program that has since died off
He even shouts in his tweets…
The Grand Tour > Top Gear
Came home last night and realized I never turned recording for top gear off on my dvr. Tried to watch it the first time, made it 5 minutes, turned it off. Tried again, made it ten, turned it off. Now it’ll be deleted soon.