Top Gear shifts to Channel Nine

By Zennith Geisler on 23 October 2009

In 2010, the Top Gear franchise will move from its home on SBS to the Nine Network.

Top Gear's moving to Channel Nine. Good or bad move?

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In a deal with BBC Worldwide Australia, both the Australian and UK series will move to the commercial network after four years on SBS.

"We are thrilled to create a unified home for the Top Gear brand in Australia," said Julie Dowding, BBC Worldwide Australia's sales director. The Top Gear Australia magazine is published by magazine arm of Nine's parent company, PBL Media.

"This country is Top Gear's biggest territory outside the UK. We greatly look forward to developing its potential with a long-standing partner like Nine."

David Gyngell, chief executive of the Nine Network, described the Top Gear agreement as a landmark partnership with BBC Worldwide.

"We are absolutely delighted to be working together with one of the world's great broadcasting powerhouses on a program of this quality and wide appeal," he said. "Top Gear is quite simply an outstanding television product, and linking the experience and expertise of BBC Worldwide with the proven capacity of the Nine Network is a great outcome."

"We are genuinely excited to have Top Gear under the Nine banner and look forward to bringing it to an even wider audience," he added.

The announcement comes as a blow to SBS, with managing director Shaun Brown admitting "It is disappointing that a brand SBS has spent many years building is moving to a commercial network.

"SBS was the only Australian network brave enough to take on the irreverent series in 2005 and we have built it into successful event television with a dedicated audience. We are proud of what we have achieved with Top Gear.

"SBS, with its limited resources, lives with the knowledge that while it can discover and develop great programs and events, it cannot always defend them from the aggressive bids of well-heeled competitors."

What do you think of the move? Comment below and vote in our poll.

Topics: nine network, channel nine, top gear, top gear australia, sbs, cache, cms, gear, lib, home

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Comments (50)

  • antd commented on 20/11/2009 22:43 Report abuse

    i download the episodes now coz id rather do that then wait till 2010 for 10 minutes of topgear and 50 minutes of ads

  • DeanNo! commented on 17/11/2009 11:42 Report abuse

    I used to watch TG when it had the same format Fifth Gear has continued. I will not watch the program on a pathetic commercial network and nine is the worst. Internet episodes for me in 2010

  • CFADUDE commented on 12/11/2009 19:42 Report abuse

    Simple, do what I do. Don't watch it on CH 9 and just download it like the rest of the die hard fans worldwide who have a PC and a bit of smarts who don't like to be dictated to when many months after or even years after it's originally aired we get to watch it. Look what happen to Smallville on 10. They were originally 2 years behind the world and didn't want to pay premium price for up to date episodes so people resorted to downloading it. Ten Dropped the show due to ratings as most had already seen it and was not worth it for them. I'm thinking Top Gear UK will go the same way when 9 destroy the show. Thank God the show itself is sheltered from PBL and James who have made questionable decisions in the past few years with 9.

  • Simon commented on 09/11/2009 22:27 Report abuse

    Money talks, unfortunately, and Nine has more. Oh well. Looking forward to whatever SBS discovers next. They seem pretty good at picking winners!

  • Simon commented on 09/11/2009 22:04 Report abuse

    Money talks, unfortunately, and Nine has more. Oh well. Looking forward to whatever SBS discovers next. They seem pretty good at picking winners!

  • J.OCP commented on 09/11/2009 19:07 Report abuse

    hey guys i agree withh most of you points and i also agree that topgearr uk should stay on SBS but some of us cant get that channel due to poor reception, so its alrigth for you guys to get angry but it doesnt go all fuzzy every 2 minutes or so for u unlike when i watch it on chaannel 9... sry but thats my opinion.

  • Mr Mack commented on 05/11/2009 23:38 Report abuse

    As previously mentioned, Top Gear UK should only be aired without ads. I download my episodes, not because I want them faster (my hectic schedule means I only watch the show weeks later at best) but because the ads actually cut out a significant part of the show, as an untampered episode lasts a minute or two under a full hour.

    There is a good commercial reason for bringing Top Gear (UK and Aus to Nine) due to their ownership of the Top Gear Magazine distribution in Australia, with the magazine even bagging out the Australian show on the odd occasion! However as it is a popular commercial station there will be many complaints as to the content of such episodes (i.e the inappropriate jokes we have come to love from the presenters) and these may simply be edited out, losing the charm of the show and killing it for the die-hard fans.

  • Pillz commented on 04/11/2009 18:01 Report abuse

    This is stupid!
    Top Gear was always an SBS show.
    They should put Top Gear Australia on Nine and keep Top Gear UK on SBS, as SBS is the cultural/overseas channel after all.
    In fact, we should start a petition or a web site saying how bad it is.
    In fact, if anybody wants to set up a Top Gear fan site with me just email me at cheatdeck13@hotmail.com
    Cheers,
    Matt

  • mollybob2.0 commented on 02/11/2009 19:55 Report abuse

    this isn't good news. nine is awful to watch, things don't often start on time, and they're packed with ads. yuk.

  • GO AWAY NINE commented on 31/10/2009 21:26 Report abuse

    I WANT MY TOP GEAR ON SBS. I remember when Top Gear first popped on SBS. Turned on the telly to watch Mythbusters and ended up watching top gear instead. I've only missed about five or six episodes since, because of overseas travel and exams. Otherwise, never missed an ep. This is outrageous.

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