- Overnight ratings show that 1.9 million viewers tuned in to the premiere of the Americanized Top Gear on History.
- The viewers who did were overwhelmingly male. No surprise there.
- Tough competition from NFL football games may have muted the size of Top Gear's audience.
LOS ANGELES — Now that the American-spec version of Top Gear is here, the question becomes whether it will stick around. That has nothing to do with how much anyone liked it or disliked it, and everything to do with how many eyeballs actually bothered to watch it. And the overnight ratings for the first episode on the History cable channel are in.
Total viewership for the first episode came in at just about 1.9 million human beings. That's a solid performance for any show on basic cable — better than the average of 1.7 million viewers who watched Conan O'Brien's new talk show on TBS during its second week on the air, but nowhere near the 4.2 million who watched the Conan premiere or the huge 3.1 million viewers who watched American Pickers when it debuted on History earlier this year. History's top-rated show (and the highest rated non-scripted, non-sports, non-news series on cable) is Pawn Stars, which regularly attracts more than 3 million viewers and has snagged more than 5 million on occasions.
Considering its tough competition, the American Top Gear did OK. It was, after all, up against a big Sunday Night Football NFL game on NBC where the Philadelphia Eagles took on the New York Giants. And the end of the great Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots game on CBS ran long, intruding into the beginning of Top Gear.
And the audience for football and Top Gear is pretty close to identical: overwhelmingly male. For instance, of the 1.1 million Top Gear viewers in the 18-49 year-old demographic, fully 848,000 of them were men. That's 77 percent men.
According to Vicky Kahn, spokesperson for History, the leaders of the cable network are "very happy" with the numbers, even if they weren't the blowout ratings they would have liked. Considering how much promotional heft History put behind this premiere, and how well known the Top Gear brand already is, the non-professional opinion over here at Inside Line is that, even with the tough NFL competition, the debut was at best a modest success.
Now the question becomes how well the numbers hold up over time. There are nine more episodes to go in this first series of American Top Gear episodes, and while some erosion of the audience is expected as the initial curiosity wears off, if the show (like any other show) doesn't show an ability to sustain a significant audience it will fade away.
Inside Line says: The future of American-made Top Gear is nowhere near guaranteed. If it's going to survive, episodes will have to get more interesting (and a lot funnier) than the first episode's snooze-fest. — Lee Pray, Correspondent
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twolane says:
07:56 PM, 12/12/2010
I think they need to replace all of the hosts. This show pales in comparison to the UK version. These guys have no clue what so ever.
These guys have no sense of humor at all. REPLACE THEM !!!!!
viss1 says:
11:10 AM, 12/02/2010
Paul Tracy would be my guess for the US Stig as well, if for no other reason than he and Foust probably have some management/talent relationships via Supercar Showdown.
mikeskaggs says:
03:32 AM, 11/30/2010
I bet the US Stig is Paul Tracy
skeevyn says:
10:57 PM, 11/29/2010
Honestly, I don't think this show will survive without a host change. Tanner Faust was really great in the pilot but the other two were extremely lackluster. I expected more from Ferrara as he is a solid stand up. I don't know who Rutledge Wood is, but I find him to be an uncharismatic bore.
Adam Carolla would be absolutely perfect as the 'Clarkson' of the U.S.-version of Top Gear. He is the best improv comedian I've ever heard, and his years as a radio show host make him ideal to interview the guests. Also, he has hundreds of thousands of loyal fans in his podcast army that will watch the show.
I think this show is doomed without Carolla.
lorri64 says:
07:48 PM, 11/28/2010
I am a HUGE Top Gear UK fan, have been for years and this show is just a blantent (and poor) attempt to rip off every detail of a classically funny AND entertaining show. Everyone is right, there is no chemistry between the host. What really irked me is they are using the same exact format AND challenges that the UK version is using. Really? At least try and make it your own.
I also fell alseep...within 15 minutes had to put myself out of my own misery
majin_ssj_eric says:
09:09 PM, 11/23/2010
I certainly enjoyed the episode. The Viper bit was entertaining at the very least and Tanner and Rutledge seemed to have some chemistry while on the run. At least give the show a chance. Some of the stuff from future shows looks very promising....
zanethan says:
01:35 PM, 11/23/2010
Terrible show! I don't know what the producers were trying to do they are trying to turn a comedic show into a legitimate show that only grovels at the feet of other cars. They had nothing bad to say about any of the cars tested and the hosts were SO BORINGGGGGGGG. I gave up halfway through because it was so dull. Get some good comedians on there that aren't afraid to speak their mind and it might turn into something good but as of now it fully sucks.
nwng says:
01:22 PM, 11/23/2010
can someone at american topgear call dagmar midcap? At the very least have her on to do an occasional road test. She's a gearhead, knows her stuff around cars and HOT!
kosmo69 says:
01:18 PM, 11/23/2010
the key will be hot cars of course and cool guests.
Leno, Seinfeld, Nick Cage will all be a must!
blueguydotcom says:
12:58 PM, 11/23/2010
If you bring up a comedian over 50 to host a show understand...
That comedian was funny 20 years ago, not now. That comedian does not connect with the 18-49 demographic. That comedian is so rich he has nothing in common with anyone outside of the 0.0001% of the population who share a comparable bank balance.