BBC launches Top Gear Channel on YouTube
Don’t get to excited just yet. BBC America has launched its own Top Gear Channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/topgear) that will give you select clips – and we mean select – from the UK version of Top Gear. The Channel will run separately from the already existing BBC Worldwide YouTube page (www.youtube.com/bbcworldwide) which already features some popular Top Gear content.
We checked out the channel ourselves and weren’t too pleased when we didn’t see any clips from season 11. Nonetheless the channel has only been adding videos for 5 days so we expect the content to grow within the next few days/weeks.
As of right now you can check out the Bugatti Veyron vs Euro Fighter Typhoon Drag Race, Audi R8 vs Porsche 911 Carrera and the Aston Martin DB9 Race to Monte Carlo. And no – we can’t post any videos here since “Embedding disabled by request.”
Click through for the press release.
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Press Release:
GET BBC AMERICA”S TOP GEAR 24/7 ON YOUTUBE
BBC Worldwide launches Top Gear Channel on YouTube™
If you”re a Top Gear addict who needs a regular fix of hosts Clarkson, Hammond and May then worry no more. From today you can get select clips of the show any time of the day or night from a new Top Gear Channel on YouTube™ (www.youtube.com/topgear).
One of the UK”s all-time most popular television franchises, the part factual and part entertainment series full of extreme stunts, challenges and weekly features takes extraordinary and ordinary cars to the limit and beyond. In the U.S., BBC AMERICA is the broadcast home of Top Gear, with new episodes premiering Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. In addition, as part of a commitment to expanding the Top Gear experience, an online destination will offer new exclusive content for the U.S. audience, launching this fall.
The new global YouTube Channel will showcase great Top Gear moments such as the epic race between a Bugatti Veyron and a light aircraft, as well as celebrity interviews with the likes of Oscar-winner Helen Mirren and American Idol”s Simon Cowell.
The Top Gear Channel will mark the first time BBC Worldwide has launched a dedicated section on YouTube for a single program brand and reflects the enormous global popularity of the show. The Top Gear Channel will complement the existing BBC Worldwide YouTube page (www.youtube.com/bbcworldwide) and will create an official online space for one of BBC Worldwide”s biggest brands and its legion of dedicated fans.
Top Gear content on the existing BBC Worldwide YouTube channel has already proven itself to be massively popular, with one clip of Jeremy driving the lightweight Arial Atom generating over 3 million views in the last year. New content to be added on the new channel will include the race between an Aston Martin DB9 and a train to Monte Carlo, the team”s attempted English Channel crossing in converted cars and the presenters” attempt to buy a decent Porsche for under £1500.
In addition to Top Gear clips, the channel will also feature content from the presenters” other shows. Other programs featured will include Jeremy Clarkson”s MotorWorld, Clarkson”s Car Years, Clarkson”s Extreme Machines and Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel.
Simon Danker, Director, Digital Media, BBC Worldwide, said: “Top Gear has a massive audience across the globe so we thought it was time it had its own place on YouTube. The BBC Worldwide YouTube channel has already proven its value to users, having generated millions of views since its launch in March last year. We”re now expanding our portfolio of YouTube Channels to reflect the massive online popularity of certain program brands and to give fans of shows like Top Gear a dedicated destination on YouTube.”
