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Top Gear drives onto Nine

Updated: Nine has secured the rights to Top Gear and Top Australia with BBC Worldwide Australia, with the hit show to roll onto screens from 2010.

topgear460The Nine Network has won the rights to Top Gear following a deal with BBC Worldwide Australia.

The deal includes both Top Gear Australia from Freehand and the UK series.

PBL Media already has the rights to the magazine and website topgear.com/au

“We are thrilled to create a unified home for the Top Gear brand in Australia” said Julie Dowding, BBC Worldwide Australia’s Sales Director. “This country is Top Gear’s biggest territory outside the UK. We greatly look forward to developing its potential with a long-standing partner like Nine.”

David Gyngell , Chief Executive of the Nine Network, described the Top Gear agreement as a landmark partnership with BBC Worldwide.

“We are absolutely delighted to be working together with one of the world’s great broadcasting powerhouses on a program of this quality and wide appeal,” he said. “Top Gear is quite simply an outstanding television product, and linking the experience and expertise of BBC Worldwide with the proven capacity of the Nine Network is a great outcome.”

“We are genuinely excited to have Top Gear under the Nine banner and look forward to bringing it to an even wider audience,” he added.

But for SBS the news was bitter.

SBS Managing Director Shaun Brown said: “It is disappointing that a brand SBS has spent many years building is moving to a commercial network.

“SBS was the only Australian network brave enough to take on the irreverent series in 2005 and we have built it into successful event television with a dedicated audience. We are proud of what we have achieved with Top Gear.

“SBS, with its limited resources, lives with the knowledge that while it can discover and develop great programs and events, it cannot always defend them from the aggressive bids of well-heeled competitors.”

SBS will not comment further.

92 Responses

  1. total bull**it. Top gear is shown in the UK on BBC2 which has no adverts. 55 mins approx. Yet when shown on 7 they show more adds than actual content…..oh eat s**t 7 totally ruined the show

  2. Great. instead of 55 min of good stuff that SBS trimmed from the 90 min show in UK we will end up with 40 mins of stuff on nine to allow for too much advertising. I love advertising…Not.

    It will be interesting to see what time slot it gets.

  3. I Believe it will be a positive for the show, yes they should screen it as a 90 minute show so Nothing is cut ( though sbs cut major parts from the show already). Cant wait for the move.

  4. “two words- one’s a male cow, the other is a description of the new network…”

    That sums up my thoughts as well really…

    Hopefully Nine broadcasts it in a 90 minute slot at least, and doesn’t cut anything out.

  5. I’m shattered. It’s just a shame that BBC don’t realise that the move to Nine will ruin their brand image in this country. I’m sad for the show and sad for my fellow fans.

  6. 9 will run regular commercials during the shows.

    9 aren’t going to be involved in the production of TG UK

    TG Aus was a woeful copy of the original on SBS.

    9 can’t hurt TG Aus, it really needed help !

    So, chill out people, it hasn’t even aired yet !

  7. Quite clearly a stupid move on the BBC’s behalf.

    9’s negativity is rating thru the roof.

    Wonder what the BBC have to say about all the negativity and backlash that has followed this decision?

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