Grand Theft Auto! Clarkson show most pirated ever
WITH an astonishing £160m budget, Jeremy Clarkson’s TV comeback is among the most expensive series of all time. But now The Grand Tour has notched up another, albeit unwanted, record – as the most illegally downloaded show in history.
Official figures for the series, which also stars Clarkson’s old Top Gear copresenters James May and Richard Hammond – have not been revealed by maker Amazon. But since its launch on November 18, the first episode had been illegally downloaded 7.9 million times. Episode two has been ripped off 6.4 million times, and the figure for the third episode is 4.6 million. Viewers in Britain are the worst culprits, making up 13.7% of the total.
Online pirates log on to websites that have stolen the Grand Tour – for which Clarkson is paid £10m a year to make – instead of subscribing to Amazon. It is estimated that Amazon lost a potential £3.2m in revenue in Britain alone on episode one. The rip-off statistics have been compiled by MUSO, the leading data analysts of the piracy market.
Chris Elkins, its chief commercial officer, described the findings as ‘absolutely incredible’.
He added: ‘It is the most illegally downloaded programme ever. It is off the scale in terms of volume.
‘We monitor thousands of campaigns and this one really stands out.’