2m watch new Clarkson show

JEREMY Clarkson’s subscription-only car show is drawing less than half his audience for Top Gear.

The Grand Tour was watched by 2.3million British viewers on Amazon Prime Video in December.

This was down on the 5.8million who saw the last episode of Top Gear, broadcast on BBC2 in June 2015.

The Grand Tour reunites Clarkson, 56, above, with James May and Richard Hammond and has a budget of £160million.

Designed to draw customers to Amazon’s video services, it is the UK’s most watched subscription-only streamed programme.

Clarkson, who was fired by the BBC for punching a Top Gear producer, is said to be on £10million a year for doing 12 episodes of the Grand Tour. Each is set in a tent in a different global location. Hammond and May are each said to earn £7.2million.

Christopher Smith, of GfK market research, said: ‘Our analysis proves the high production costs for the Grand Tour are paying off, with viewers of the show agreeing that Amazon’s investment has been worth it.’