Matt LeBlanc Doesn’t Care About Plummeting ‘Top Gear’ Ratings
Matt LeBlanc doesn’t care about the plummeting Top Gear ratings, according to the Mirror. The former Friends star attended Bruce Springsteen’s performance at Wembley just hours after the disappointing ratings of the BBC show had been revealed.
But it didn’t look as if Matt LeBlanc was disappointed by the plummeting ratings of Top Gear. On the contrary, the 48-year-old American actor looked cheery and joyful with his huge tongue sticking out and didn’t show any signs of distress.
http://instagram.com/p/BGSENChDtup/
“Wembley with the Boss!!”
In the photo shared by Matt LeBlanc via his Instagram account, the actor is seen wearing a cap and watching Springsteen’s performance in the crowds.
Has Jeremy Clarkson just mocked the revamped version of Top Gear? According to the Daily Mail, the former host of the BBC show, who was replaced by co-presenters Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans, has apparently just posted a tweet that makes veiled fun of Evans being too loud on the show.
Clarkson was fired last year for punching the show’s producer after the latter tried to prevent Clarkson from having a snack in the middle of the night during filming. Apparently, the former Top Gear host has just made a reference to Evans’ reputation as “Mr. Shouty” by writing that he was “quietly hopeful” that his new show would be received well by the fans.
The films we have made for the Grand Tour are emerging slowly from the edit. I'm quietly hopeful you'll like them.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 2, 2016
It has been recently revealed that the debut episode of Top Gear saw a significant decline in its viewership in the United States compared to the Clarkson-hosted series. And that’s despite the fact that the revamped version of Top Gear is hosted by a new American presenter, Matt LeBlanc.
For the sake of comparison, 388,000 U.S. viewers tuned in to watch the debut episode of the revamped BBC show, which is co-hosted by Matt LeBlanc and Evans. By contrast, the debut episode of the Clarkson-hosted Top Gear was viewed by 530,000 viewers.
Top Gear ratings plummet in US despite being hosted by American star Matt LeBlanchttps://t.co/i6BzayyqEC pic.twitter.com/jWhFYaz5Qd
— The Scottish Sun (@ScottishSun) June 7, 2016
But BBC America has found a reasonable explanation as to why the Matt LeBlanc-hosted Top Gear was less successful than the Clarkson-hosted BBC show during its opening episode. BBC America claims the debut episode faced tough competition from two major sports events: the finals of ice hockey’s Stanley Cup and the NBA Western Conference.
A spokesperson for BBC America said it was “an incredibly competitive” evening for the U.S. TV.
“Premiere night was an incredibly competitive evening in the US with programs that attracted a heavily male-skewing audience, which overlaps greatly with the BBC America audience.”
But even recorded viewings as well as other forms of ratings three days after Top Gear aired in the U.S. plummeted. Only 547,000 viewers recorded the debut episode of the revamped show co-hosted by Matt LeBlanc and Evans, while the Clarkson-hosted Top Gear had 792,000 viewers.
And while neither Matt LeBlanc nor Evans responded to viewers who criticized Evans for his shouty presenting style, the latter defended the BBC show’s plummeting ratings, saying that overnight viewing figures have “never been less relevant” in the world of on-demand services.
According to ratings data, the second episode of the Matt LeBlanc-hosted series had a whopping 1.5 million fall compared to the debut episode last week. In fact, it’s believed that 2.8 million viewers is the lowest overnight viewership figure for at least a decade of Top Gear’s run.
Top Gear’s viewers are so annoyed by Evans’ shouty presenting style that they are even urging BBC to get Formula One driver Jensen Button to co-host the series with Matt LeBlanc. BBC has neither confirmed nor declined reports that it might replace Evans anytime soon.
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Tommy Bahama]
