Top Gear premier with Hammond crash breaks record
As many of you know, the first episode of Top Gear's ninth season debuted last Sunday. At the end of the show, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond debut for the first time ever video of the jet car crash that almost killed Hammond. You can check out that clip of the show after the jump, as well as view an incredibly detail rich analysis of the crash in computer animation here. We all knew anticipation of the show's premier was high, but not many expected an average audience of 7.9 million viewers with a spike peaking at 8.6 million viewers near the finale of the show. Those figures easily beat Top Gear's previous record of 5.3 million viewers set last season, and it was enough to make the episode the most watched show in Britain last Sunday, beating the finale of Celebrity Big Brother. For comparison's sake, the reigning most-watched show in U.S. history is the final episode of M*A*S*H, which was watched by about 106 million Americans. Last year's Super Bowl in which the Steelers beat the Sea Hawks was watched by 90.7 million people. The most watched episode in the U.K. of all time is an episode of the EastEnders in which Den divorces Angie. While the premier episode of Top Gear doesn't break into the U.K.'s top ten most watched episodes, it was nevertheless a remarkable and interesting night of television.
[Source: Top Gear]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Johnie 6:16PM (1/29/2007)
That crash was pretty crazy.
These guys are awesome. Man I wish that I could watch that show in the states.
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Peter 6:34PM (1/29/2007)
#1
http://www.finalgear.com/
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JayP 6:53PM (1/29/2007)
The torrents were flying last night.
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Opposite Lock 7:05PM (1/29/2007)
Yea, I got my torrent in about 25 minutes. It usually takes 3-4 hours.
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Kwyjibo 8:11PM (1/29/2007)
thankfully he survived that...
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James Sonne 8:24PM (1/29/2007)
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/28/hammonds-crash-available-on-top-gears-website/
???
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Jon 8:43PM (1/29/2007)
My hat is off to Richard Hammond. Very Brave, Very Honorable.
from experiance, it is not easy to watch and critique the tape of the event that could have very easily had drastic permanent resolve on your life. I know I never got back on that perverbial 'horse' and I do not regret it, but the hit of adreniline is better then any drug, even better then sex. But recovery is too painful.
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mooble 8:48PM (1/29/2007)
My torrent took 4 hours (started about 2hrs after it finished). It was fantastic, not just the hammond bit, but all of it. I have a feeling that this season is gonna be the best one yet
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Tyler Rose 10:03PM (1/29/2007)
Why did you have to bring up last year's Super Bowl?! Was that REALLY necessary?!
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Tyler 10:05PM (1/29/2007)
P.S. "Seahawks" is one word.
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rem83 10:27PM (1/29/2007)
I'd just like to say that this story made the Houston Fox affiliate's evening news tonight..wtf?? As of my writing this, they haven't played the story yet, so I can't comment on the angle, but it just seems weird to have a several month old international story on a local news program...
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philly_breakz 3:23AM (1/30/2007)
What a surprise; 'car crash tv' beats a programme that only survived because it showed a racist pig, b-list celebrities, jermaine jackson and dirk 'the face' benedict. How goulish are we all as a viewing nation [here in Britain], that Celebrity Big Brother was struggling with 1.9 million viewers, and when racism and bullying becomes an issue; 3.9 million people watch. Now that people can catch a glimpse of somebody almost dying, 2 million more people watched! What next? a live hanging? oh no, that's already been done... Anyway Top Gear was good as ever, and bodes well for the rest of the series. And yes I taped Celebrity Big Brother.
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Rishi Khaitan 3:53AM (1/30/2007)
I wouldn't be surprised if the worldwide online viewership exceeded 8 million.
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ThwartedEfforts 4:11AM (1/30/2007)
It was really VERY tense towards the end of the programme. Those around me on the sofa were sinking behind cushions :)
As for the viewing figures, multiplying them by 10 gets you the bigger picture. As others have said, the whole Internet seems to have filled up with Top Gear torrents.
And by the way, what on earth was the point in listing out the most-viewed shows in the US? Exactly what insight does that give us, except that a lot of Americans like TV? Couldn't you pad this entry with something a little more, say, automotive?
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Jos?le 10:55AM (1/30/2007)
I've never seen Jeremy and James basically stunned into silence. It's also the first time that I think there's ever been complete silence in the studio. Overall, well done, well shot, and I'm glad the Hamster recovered.
I thought the thanking the hospital staff and the helo rescue crews on air was awesome. Most people would shrug it off but it was handled with dignity and respect.
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