MovieChat Forums > Top Gear (2002) Discussion > So where exactly do these 400 million vi...

So where exactly do these 400 million viewers live?

posted 9 years ago by schurke2000
14 replies | jump to latest

So first of all let me say, I'm a massive fan of Top Gear.

However... For years I've been hearing this fantastic figure of 300-400 million viewers per week and I've been skeptical ever since I first heard those figures.

Before we start, I'd like to stress that "per week" phrase, since that is what usually is used (i.e. not how many people view an episode over many years, nor how many people view a clip on YouTube)
So let's break those figures down:

- The only official figures I can find are the ones from the UK broadcast, which are usually around 5-7 million.
- As far as I can tell this program hasn't exactly been successful in the US - not even the US version could attract too many viewers. For the sake of it, let's just be (extremely (very (very ))) generous and add another 2 million to the viewer count
- I live in Germany, in terms of population the largest country in Europe, and Top Gear only just started to air here a couple of years ago on a channel not many people watch and to be honest, I haven't exactly been hearing a lot of buzz... To be honest I'm pretty sure it doesn't air within the same week but what the hell - let's again be unreasonable generous again and add another million to the count.

So far we've covered the largest english speaking nation on earth, the country of origin and the largest country in Europe and by very generous calculation we've come to 10 million viewers a week.

Now then, I very much doubt that we'll be making up the missing 300 million viewers within Europe or North America. Call me ignorant, but something tells me China might not exactly be the target market, which in terms of numbers leaves the rest of south east Asia/India and/or South America.

Now, I know I've kinda glossed over a couple of major peoples, however, I'd like to hear some actual numbers of actual weekly viewers before people start calling me ignorant, racist, clarkson, stupid or other things.

Again, this is about the claim of weekly viewers that Top Gear themselves have put out numerous times and which Amazon are very much basing their new show on. I'm very much a numbers guy and I'm not saying the numbers definitely do not add up, I just do not see them. Please show me and I'll gladly change my mind

"War - Gods way of teaching us geography"

[–] mason25 8 years ago

You must be functionally retarded huh...
United States of America/Population
318.9 million (2014)

Canada/Population
35.16 million (2013)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_population
(Total 851,605,800)

So youve got over a BILLION potential viewers there, and you can safely assume 10-15% ARE watching this awesome show, I would wager more like 20-40%, that covers quite a bit of that 3-400 million now doesn't it.

[–] Blathnat69 8 years ago

10-15% of people outside the UK? Not a bloody chance. Look at the most popular US shows and their viewer numbers. GoT and Walking Dead get about 15 million a week including streaming services. That's about 5% of the population, for the most popular shows there so it would be safe to assume something like Top Gear would reach maybe 2-3% at most.

Taking that 2.5% average, across Europe and North America we're looking at ~31 million at best. That's a LONG way from 400 million.

If you aren't replying to my post, don't click reply.

[–] schurke2000 8 years ago

You would wager that up to 40% of Europe and North America watch each new episode of Top Gear?! So what you're saying is that every episode has better viewing figures across Europe than World Cup finals and Super Bowls in the United States and you have the nerve to call me "functionally retarded"...
Thanks for your comment, now please kindly go away.

[–] etsis 8 years ago

So youve got over a BILLION potential viewers there, and you can safely assume 10-15% ARE watching this awesome show, I would wager more like 20-40%, that covers quite a bit of that 3-400 million now doesn't it.

Is this a joke? 20-40% in the U.S.? Even 10-15% is ridiculous. I'm from the U.S. and I don't know anyone who's even heard of it.

[–] TonyStank 8 years ago

You can look it up yourself easily. But as such a massive Top Gear fan it's pretty weird to question the shows popularity. World Wide it's one of the most popular shows in the World, or was until they broke up the team. It's aired in like 200+ countries and it's 'estimated' viewership is 350 million per week. The show has a cult like following. And the show is extremely popular in the US. The US version didn't succeed because it's sucked, like really sucked. You can find many credited news agencies reporting these figures BTW, hell the show has Guinness records to it's name for viewers.

[–] schurke2000 8 years ago

Well maybe I'm just not that good at looking things up, I don't know. The figure of 350 million viewers per week definitely comes directly from the BBC and every article I can find obviously just blindly copies that number.
I found some ratings from about 5 countries (including the US, whose ratings are barely worth mentioning) which also didn't even come close to filling up the BBCs claimed number.

Also I really don't understand your confusion about me even questioning the shows popularity? Should all Game of Thrones fans blindly agree that last week's episode was watched by 2 billion people if HBO claims it? Don't really see what one thing has to do with the other...

As for the Guinness World Record: the record they got has the very vague title of "world's Most widely watched factual TV programme". Now, first of all the article on their website mentions no viewing figures, only the much quoted 200+ countries (side note: older BBC articles mention something around 150 countries, also with 350 million viewers, so apparently adding another 50 countries did nothing to improve the ratings).
As someone who, as a kid, had the weird hobby of collecting Guinness Books I promise you that when it comes to those kind of records the Guinness people really don't put a lot of effort in, other than calling the production company / record label / gum manufacturer / etc and asking them if their figures are true.

Again, one of the reasons I'm curious about all of this, is also the whole Amazon thing - I very much doubt the first episode will even brake 100 downloads from their site (10 million in the first week would be more than a little surprising to be honest).

Oh well, as long as I'm one of the X amount of people watching, I'm happy.

[–] defcon79 8 years ago

Top Gear was sold/broadcast to over 200 countries so I don't really find that number that hard to believe, and if that includes places like China/India even a tiny percentage goes a long way.

Anyway it doesn't matter, it was the most watched non-fiction show which is not hard to believe.

[–] nightc1 8 years ago

"it was the most watched non-fiction show"

It's all pretty well scripted, made up, and staged, so it's pure fiction. I think the only non-fiction elements are the car stats.

[–] TheNazMan 8 years ago

Why would it be "weird" to question the show's popularity, when the BBC is notorious for lying and avoiding transparency? It's true, the show is nowhere near as popular as is claimed by the BBC. I'd be amazed if there is a foreign audience left after this series finishes.

[–] Runie 8 years ago

It broke the world record for a show with educational elements . The Guinness book of records verified it's numbers.

I haven't ever read beyond that. I don't know the exact numbers, but doubt your 300 plus viewers is for live broadcasts only.

Off course Amazon is going to double check the numbers Clarkson and co give them with verified figures that all the broadcasting industry utilises. The ratings industry is made up of independant auditors, so foul play isn't going to be easy.

The BBC are not the kind of broadcaster to play with fire. If they lie about numbers, beyond perhaps playing with data and English as the whole media does to Infer numbers rather than be 100% clear to every type of reader, someone would find out and out them.

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[–] rp69 8 years ago

To be honest, I don't believe 3-400 million people either. That's A LOT of people. I'm American in New York, I don't know anyone who watches it. Although, AOL (America Online) has constant update articles on the show and the boys. So apparently it must be of some interest in the States. Maybe all the hillbillies up in the Ozarks, or rednecks down south, but I doubt it.
But there is still all of central and South America. China, India and Russia all have huge populations too.
To say Amazon will will only get 100 downloads is ridiculous. Amazon is worldwide. But I still think a 10 million worldwide debut might be a stretch.

[–] Runie 8 years ago

OP as I thought , you haven't done your research very well.

The figure of 350m are for views of any top gear show in a week from all media formats...

This is not LIVE. And it isn't 400m . http://www.businessinsider.com/bbcs-top-gear-is-greatest-show-on-tv-2014-7?IR=T

I can't see any BBC article mentioning numbers. They did however admit the show has lost viewers recently. So it doesn't sound like the type of Broadcaster to falsely convey high ratings.

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[–] etsis 8 years ago

As far as I can tell this program hasn't exactly been successful in the US - not even the US version could attract too many viewers. For the sake of it, let's just be (extremely (very (very ))) generous and add another 2 million to the viewer count

Actually, as it turns out, it draws well under a million, even in the Clarkson era.

BBC America’s show drew 388,000 viewers when it aired on 30 May, compared with 530,000 viewers for the opening episode of the last series, when it was fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/07/top-gear-ratings-fall-in-us-despite-key-role-for-matt-leblanc

So where they get the 400 million figure remains a mystery.

[–] Captain_Bob 8 years ago

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jun/13/top-gear-viewing-figures-fall-to-new-low

UK viewership (overnight) for episodes 1-2-3: 4.3m-2.8m-2.4m, realising a 13-year record low for the series. Guess what (who) the number one complaint is ;-)