BBC's television show, Top Gear which is considered to be the biggest factual television show grossing $225 million in revenue each year, has recently fired one of the host of the show who has worked for the BBC for 27 years. Jeremy Clarkson was fired from his position after allegedly punching one of the producers in the face after a dinner disagreement. The release of Clarkson is easily justifiable, but will this cost the BBC more than they expect?
With the release of Clarkson, his fellow co hosts have also decided to not renew their contracts with the BBC. While the BBC has confirmed they will continue the TV series, they have now lost all of the hosts and the producer, Andy Wilman. This has caused a lot of uproar in the community supporting the fellow hosts which started trends such as the slogan Bring Back Clarkson, abbreviated BBC with over 1 million signatures to reinstate Clarkson.
Viewers of the show know that Jeremy Clarkson is not afraid to say what he believes even if the statements are considered racist or stereotyped. This has gotten Clarkson in trouble previously with the BBC, but no actions were ever taken causing many to not take the BBC seriously including Clarkson. When the fracas and release of Clarkson became public, many could not believe the BBC would fire the man who writes the scripts and hosts one of the most famous shows with an average of 350 million viewers an episode.
This caused an out-lash by the Clarkson supporters and even Jeremy who has stated "I will do another car show". Since his fellow hosts also failed to renew their contract, as well as the producer, it is safe to say that they will be making their own show without restrictions or the BBC will have no choice but to renew the contracts. Jeremy Clarkson making his own show could be disastrous to the BBC by stealing the viewership and possible hosts. Since Top Gear consistently turns over 20% of the revenue for the BBC, it may be one of the worst financial decisions made in TV history. The real question that is going to be answered is whether the BBC should have fired Clarkson, put him on probation, or not let the ordeal go viral.
I agree and think that BBC letting Top Gear go will be one of the biggest mistakes in TV history. I have watched a substantial amount of Top Gear and can say that it is without a doubt the most entertaining/interesting show on BBC and the network will definitely feel the loss of the show.
Though this is a tough situation, it is too narrow-minded to just think of the financial setbacks that this will bring. I have never seen Top Gear, but if the show brought in $225 million last year, I am sure they can afford a replacement for Jeremy Clarkson. There is no excuse to physically and verbally attack a direct superior, and an intelligent person should know that they will be punished accordingly. On top of the attack against his producer, Clarkson has said several racist and culturally insensitive comments during his time on the show.
While agreeing that looking at the issue from only a financial prospective may be a one sided argument, it allows the reader to picture the ordeal from the view of the BBC. Clarkson clearly has done wrong in the past with racial comments and suggestions and the attack on the producer called for an action by the BBC which is easily justifiable. The issue I find is that the BBC put up with Clarkson's mishaps for so long that he felt he was invincible to idea that they would release him. Even now the BBC is saying they will rehire him if he admits fault to the ordeal. This is the biggest problem with the BBC and Clarkson. Clarkson has grown into this super figure that cannot be forgotten because of the millions of fans that follow him around even with racist comments and the attack on a producer.
If the latter part of the argument is true, then couldn't you say that the real reason behind BBC firing Clarkson was his out of pocket behavior and his loose lips. Maybe the want to fire him had been building up and because they had let his racial statements go on for so long that they felt using them as justification for firing him wouldn't stand. Even with that being so i wouldn't want someone to work for me if they said racial remarks. This is kind of like the example with Paula Deen and her alleged racial remarks or Charlie Sheen and his bad attitude. Stars think that just because they are the star that things wont eventually fall apart for them if they act out of pocket. Granted Charlie Sheen did gain another TV series out of his behavior, but eventually that fell off too and now his career will never be the same. I say if you have a legitimate reason behind releasing him then do it.
I agree and think that BBC letting Top Gear go will be one of the biggest mistakes in TV history. I have watched a substantial amount of Top Gear and can say that it is without a doubt the most entertaining/interesting show on BBC and the network will definitely feel the loss of the show.
ReplyDeleteThough this is a tough situation, it is too narrow-minded to just think of the financial setbacks that this will bring. I have never seen Top Gear, but if the show brought in $225 million last year, I am sure they can afford a replacement for Jeremy Clarkson. There is no excuse to physically and verbally attack a direct superior, and an intelligent person should know that they will be punished accordingly. On top of the attack against his producer, Clarkson has said several racist and culturally insensitive comments during his time on the show.
ReplyDeleteWhile agreeing that looking at the issue from only a financial prospective may be a one sided argument, it allows the reader to picture the ordeal from the view of the BBC. Clarkson clearly has done wrong in the past with racial comments and suggestions and the attack on the producer called for an action by the BBC which is easily justifiable. The issue I find is that the BBC put up with Clarkson's mishaps for so long that he felt he was invincible to idea that they would release him. Even now the BBC is saying they will rehire him if he admits fault to the ordeal. This is the biggest problem with the BBC and Clarkson. Clarkson has grown into this super figure that cannot be forgotten because of the millions of fans that follow him around even with racist comments and the attack on a producer.
ReplyDeleteIf the latter part of the argument is true, then couldn't you say that the real reason behind BBC firing Clarkson was his out of pocket behavior and his loose lips. Maybe the want to fire him had been building up and because they had let his racial statements go on for so long that they felt using them as justification for firing him wouldn't stand. Even with that being so i wouldn't want someone to work for me if they said racial remarks. This is kind of like the example with Paula Deen and her alleged racial remarks or Charlie Sheen and his bad attitude. Stars think that just because they are the star that things wont eventually fall apart for them if they act out of pocket. Granted Charlie Sheen did gain another TV series out of his behavior, but eventually that fell off too and now his career will never be the same. I say if you have a legitimate reason behind releasing him then do it.
ReplyDeleteGood comparisons!
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