Amazon's highly promoted and anticipated car enthusiast-adventure programme 'The Grand Tour' has been breaking records, both legal and illegal. According to leading piracy tracking firm Muso, the pilot has been illegally downloaded 7.9 million times since it debuted on November 18, making it the most illegally downloaded series in history. The next two episodes showed a steady decline, with the second downloaded 6.4 million times, and then the third 4.6 million
What is the damage for Amazon?
While official figures for the series have yet to be revealed by Amazon, current estimates say that they have lost a potential £3.2 ($4)million in revenue in Britain alone on episode one.
No surprise, as British viewers ranked among the worst offenders, making up 13.7 per cent of the overall number. This is especially problematic, as 'The Grand Tour' is currently one of the most expensive television series ever made, costing over $200 million (£160 million) to produce and market, $13 million of which is Jeremy Clarkson's salary, and was meant to be a flagship series for the streaming service. Calling the download numbers 'off the scale', Muso's chief commercial officer, Chris Elkins, said the figures surpassed other major programmes, including 'Game of Thrones'.
How did Amazon's show start out?
'The Grand Tour' came about as a byproduct of Jeremy Clarkson being dismissed from the highly popular BBC racing and car show, 'Top Gear'.
This was following allegations of bullying some of the crew and a history of other acts of poor/insensitive conduct. He was followed by his co-hosts, Richard Hammond and James May, leading to a controversial and unpopular change in presenters for 'Top Gear'. 'The Grand Tour was intended to be a draw for the $88/£79 price tag of the yearly subscription to Amazon Prime Video.
However, when asked further about the effect of the downloads, Amazon seemed very candid. They said it was the biggest premiere ever on Amazon Prime Video, and that the series was 'breaking records around the world.'
