TGA ratings hit a bump in the road
October 7, 2008 by Matt Brogan
With just two episodes under their belt, the Top Gear Australia team has taken a battering with only 674,000 viewers returning for the second episode, a drop of over 250,000 viewers compared to the premiere episode.
TGA finished last in its time slot to become the 26th most watched show last night, hinting that the new series may be taking a while to bed in with Aussie audiences.
Hosted by Charlie Cox, Steve Pizzati and Warren Brown, TGA saw a Holden vs. Ford battle and guest appearance from Steve Bisley (of Mad Max fame) in last night’s show.
SBS director of television Matt Campbell said that although he was disappointed, this was not “a disaster”, and that there were many examples of TV shows that had slumped before coming good again.
The network remains positive about the series as a whole and will push on despite mixed opinions from their audience. TGA airs at 7.30pm on SBS each Monday night.
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I guess everyone including myself had too much expectation with TGA. It will be great show but it will take time to catch up with UK one. Even UK one didn’t have james and richard when they started, so I’m sure they will improve. Just need bit more time to it.
In the HSV and FPV comparison, the HSV had a half second head start.
I am not going to watch that show any more. I am car enthusiast and their show is for people who know nothing about cars.F6 vs Clubby comparison was hopeless. They have no balls to declare a winner, create controversy.MOR huggers (middle of road),please don’t offend anyone. Hopeless show….absolutely sux.
Whats wrong with this show
1) Aussies arent funny
2) only 15% of the popultion speaks their unsophisticated accents
3) Unrealistic backdrops in outback…cmon
4) No real manufacturer trusts them with their cars cause always compare them to Ford and Holden and dont understand sophistication. Ford and Holden will never stack up to the 3 axis cars.
5) Noone cares about Ford and Holden, theyre rubbish dinosaurs.
6) The people in the backgrounds look like trailor park trash ready for Calder Park on Friday night eating dim sims instead of spending time with their families.
7) They try to be witty like Clarkeson but have no I.Q’s.
8) The australian Stig is a drunk and cant drive, the track has too many slow spots.
I would never trust these guys with a Ferrari if I was a dealer, they just compare it to a Holden and talk how great Holden is for 2 minutes as if anyone cares.
A Ford and Holden Comparo, screened the same week as the Bathurst 1000.
Why was this test not done at Bathurst??
It was the worst test (if you can call it that) I had ever seen.
This show has so much potential but it just isn’t working.
I, like most people here, am bitterly dissapointed with TGA. I adore TGUK, and have done for years, and couldn’t wait for TGA to get here. So the Oz version being so bad on so many levels is such a let down. Westy say’s we have “tall poppy syndrome” but he conveniently overlooks the fact that the show actually is that bad.
I also agree with most posters that Warren Brown is showing promise but Cox and Pizzati ought to be shown the door, the latter two just don’t seem to have “it”. They are painful to watch, surely we as a nation could’ve come up with better? Can you imagine Clarkson, May and Hammond rolling around laughing, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s embarrasing!
But it’s not just the hosts. The HSV v FPV comparison was complete rubbish, told us nothing of any worth, no lap times, didnt identify at all each cars strengths and weakness’, the 1/4 mile drag was flawed and not a single useful conclusion, let alone a victor. Compare that to TGUK calling a spade a spade.
The ute comparison was long winded and ultimately boring, what exactly was the point of it?
The Ford GT review was all fairy floss and no substance, not a single mention of engine type and spec!!!!!!!!
What about the “news” segment, with a picture of the new FG Falcon and one of the muppets saying the last 12 months sales are the worst ever for Falcon? Was this “news item” written and placed by VW, one of the show’s sponsors? The last 12 months sales figures are largely made up of the outgoing BF Mk2 Falcon, not the FG, and sales of an outgoing model are always slow prior to the release of a new model.
Well done TGA, bash the local manufacturer.
It’s your ratings that are rapidly becoming the worst ever, and for the first time in a long time I’ll be now looking for something else to do on Monday evenings.
AAA, agreed on the head start. Turbos can bog down on launch, but the holden was well ahead before the ford moved at all. And was that a joke with the driver calling the start? Its not as though there wasnt a half dozen tech’s around who could signal the start! Really, that kind of BS is just an insult to your intelligence. Elitist, you forgot about the Oz “personalities”. Who the f*# are the guys that have been on so far? Mad Max was like 30 years ago, for god’s sake! They’ll need to be racing on zimmer frames next. They’d be better off pulling in good looking girls off the street – maybe rename it “reasonably priced tart in a reasonably priced car”. I’d tune in for that for sure!
Ok… where to begin…
This weeks was much better than last weeks (could not have been worse). Better production values and filming. (flames on the GT looked awesome)
If the presenters dont get their act together in this season they are gone. I hate watching something and thinking ‘i could do better than that’ really takes the sheen off my enjoyment. And i could. This show is trying to be all style and no substance… currently gets a b- in my book. UKTG is ‘must see’ tv. TGA i will watch but i channel surf it which i never ever did with TGUK. Also the crowd is embarrasing and the Ads are insulting…
I have seen every episode of TGUK since the format change. The first season of the new TGUK reminds me of the first season of TGA. Give it time & it will improve. Until we got a set top box we got crap SBS reception. We need to get the current episodes of TGUK – not ones that are 2 years old. I normally get to see the episodes of TGUK 1-2 days after it is shown in the UK thanks to the internet and p2p. TGA was never going to be as good as TGUK in it’s debut season, but give it a chance & it will come close pretty soon. TGA kind of reminds me of Fifth Gear, good stories but without the personalities (VBH the exception). Maybe TGA should get a hot looking babe with driving ability as a co-host and that would give the show something to differentiate it from TGUK.
I’m still reeling over last weeks episode and the damage they did to that Rav4. Australian families work hard to pull together the 35K to buy a soft roader, are the Australian TG team really putting across the right messages? People want entertaining car reviews not car abuse and it doesn’t need to be pathetic like The Car Show. Anyway, how can you have a comparison of soft roaders which is traditionally a 4cyl class and pitch in a 6cyl Rav4? Is this another case of Toyota splasing around their marketing dollars? If they wanted to do a comparison of Sport SUV’s then they should have used the Forester XT.
The people saying give TGA time and comparing it to the early seasons of TGUK are missing the point.
TGUK is a worldwide phenomenon; the standard is there for everyone to see. The producers of TGA must have realised that TGA would be compared to TGUK, and unfavourably if they fell short. The decision to proceed with TGA required a clear assessment of whether TGA could meet the standard of TGUK. Hindsight is easy but it should have been obvious that the chances of success were remote a best.
Worse still is that whoever is responsible for TGA seems to have missed the essence of TGUK; the wit and relationship between the presenters/ The TGA presenters are just woeful and the showed is doomed as result. The only issue now is how quickly TGA is canned.
As much as I was interested in TGA at the beginning, having watched Monday night’s episode, I realised a few things:
1. they shouldnt have copied the format so precisely so that the CLARSKON clone does exactly what clarkson would do, and so on – stupid and very irritating to watch
2. the hosts don’t gel.
3. who on earth picked the audience? Haven’t they realised TGUK put the attractive people at the FRONT?
4. Replace all three hosts and do it again for season 2. This time pick someone from those 10,000 entries that might actually know a thing or two about cars
I have the perfect idea for the replacement hosts: Hamish and Andy + either the most presentable V8 super car driver they can find or a sexy lady racing car driver if one exists.
Sure Hamish and Andy probably know very little about cars but they can learn.
Full disclosure..
I sent in an awesome application with a fair budget for the ‘talent scout’ for SBS. It mightn’t be the best one they got (had to be top 20 but) but to see an idiot with a texter every week on the show burns me big time.
And the compares deserve to go on the ‘what were they thinking’ board more than any car i can think of. WTF!
I too am embarassed that the show could be so bad!!! The premise of the show is great, but the deer-in-headlight presenters are getting hung out to dry by poor editing and a lack of good direction. They have not got any chemistry, and seem to be getting louder in an attempt to make themselves seem funny or interesting. I think they could introduce Dick Johnson as a guest, and slowly adopt him into the show full time, getting rid of Pizzati and Brown. As someone stated earlier, even an 18 year old could drift like these clowns. These blokes make Glen Ridge look brilliant!!! :-( I really hope it gets better.
The Ford Holden test was pure boganism, how many family’s are going to drift the kids to school, and then drift to work?
Better suggestions were made on the Car Advice t shirt competition (who won that by the way?)
If I wanted to see bogans doing burnouts I would visit any suburb of Logan City…
The t shirt was like the “audition” SALESPERSON. It was won by a relitive or business associate (living in sydney preferably) of SBS Australia….
DanMan, not true, we are waiting for SBS to pick the winner.
TGA show – 6/10, TGA hosts – 1/10. Complete stupidity to attempt to remake BBC show. Make more Aussie stuff and character to show, bring local muscle cars, long forgotten Toranas, etc,, etc.
Presenters are just hopeless, I could do this much better. What about Grant Denyer?
The t shirt was like the “audition” SALESPERSON. It was won(SORRY GOING TO BE WON) by a relitive or business associate (living in sydney preferably) of SBS Australia….
My bad text ammendede…
It wont be as Good as an English shirt anyway…
Sorry couldn’t help it.
Well it’s unanimous then, SBS replace the hosts asap. To coin a phrase from the great James May himself, “…they’re complete cocks….”
i was at the filming for the 3 episode last night and I think it’s getting a lot better. You can’t just start with good chemistry and confidence it takes time
How long should it take to have chemistry? I can make best friends with a client in the first 30 seconds. They need how many episodes?
One of the key criteria for presenters should have been who has the ability to create a presence and personality quickly. Establish a connection with the viewing public.
Yes I am quick to criticize, because I can see where it could have been done so much better.
Charlie here (wooooooo). Why (woooopieeeeee!!!!) does everyone pick (yeee-harrrr) on meeeeeeeeeeeee (oooooooooohhh!!!!ahhhhhhhh!!!!!). Doenst every-woooohoooo-one talk (rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) like me??? Maaaaaaaaaaate….
I think it is a great show
These clowns know nothing about the cars. It was killing me to watch them butcher new cars. I wanted to jump thought the screen and slap them around. SBS is ultimately to blame and whoever edited and decided this was ready to be served up to the Australian public should go first. Very frustrating, I will rejoice the axing when it comes.
OR change the Hosts, maybe Dick Johnson, Jim Richards and Stacey McMahon
Get Koshy and Mel to do it.
I agree, the show has room for improvement, but given the amount of experts replying to this post I’m surprised we don’t already have at least 10 motoring shows on our screens, all of much higher quality than anything TG UK has ever produced.
So much for giving the local talent a fair go. Talk about cultural cringe.
Dont know what show you guys R watching, but I reckon its gr8. specially that cartoonist guy – what a card! and talented – me mum wet ‘erself watching ‘im! champagne comedy, thats wot it is. you guys just arent smart enuff to understand it (sniff!)…no-ones smart enough…maybe we can take the show to the states… they’d understand quality humour…its wasted on you lot
Me and Stacey McMahon could do it….
The show, the show!
Add a chick to the team to add some female attitude. They are 50% of the population you know. Get rid of Steve. Rachel Splatt or Natalie Lownes would be good choices..
Vicki Butler-Henderson
Ill take a quote out of top gears own word’s. What where they thinking? when they got these hosts. TEST DRIVE CARS and don’t act like 18 year olds with big cars.
The reason we have gone so long without a rather high profile car show id because they have been hosted by guys/girls who know nothing about cars except from what they read in either the press release or brochre [that is assuming they can read] let alone have any interest or passion for cars
Which turns Car enthusiasts away so ratings dropped
As a result they were often relegated to weekends during the day when car enthusiasts are out enjoying their cars so ratings dropped even further.
And to have someone like Kochie Mel or Andrew O’ Keefe even Jennifer Hawkins [heaven forbid] or some other “IT” celebrity from another network would have the same effect
Sure Charlie Steve and Warren aren’t as good as Clarkson Hammond or May.. but they do have an interest in cars or an automotive background.. which is a start at least
Remember it took TG 5 yrs to be as successful as it is now
It was the first time i’ve seen TGA last monday. To be honest it wasn’t bad. My fav host was the cartoonist guy, the rest were crap. No one will beat Hammond, Clarkson and May!
Liam-Give local talent a fair go is fine, not the talentless. There are prbably many who have commented here who could do better.
Brett-Vicki Butler-Henderson? You must be joking, lacks talent in any form (especially in the looks department), squeals annoyingly and has a pommy hyphenated name.
What were they thinking, pinning up pictures with one pin and letting them swing? Really makes them look like Richard Craniums!
Car Advice,
Can you arrange a live blog with all or part of the Top Gear team?
Obviously we have a diverse range of enthusiasts from different walks of life who share a common passion.
I want an Australian car show i am proud of, not embarrassed by.
Everyone keeps whinging about old UKTG. Sure, old Top Gear wasn’t as polished as the recent stuff and the relationships were different, but it was still a long way from TGA.
(1) Clarkson’s acerbic wit has always been a driving force for the show; none of the TGA guys come close (in fact very few people have Clarkson’s bite).
(2) They actually reviewed cars. Not, as someone said, “drove around like an 18 year old”. Seriously, Charlie acts like a P plater with the keys to dad’s expensive car. The dude is an ex-racing driver, wtf!? May and Clarkson have years (I mean serious years) behind them in reviewing cars, makes a huge difference.
(3) The chemistry was always there between the presenters, right from the beginning. The relationships have evolved over time and now they piss around and mock each other. You can’t 3 randoms and expect them to act the same. Even Jason from season 1 was more charismatic than these guys. And Jason was a car dealer, so he brought industry experience with him.
The big problem seems that they’ve taken the recent TG and tried to replicate it. TG in season 1 started by reviewing cars and telling motor industry news. Over the years they built up a relationship, became more controversial, more popular and introduced more challenges and “cool wall” type stuff.
You have to start at the beginning. I don’t want TGA to do challenges. Tell me the news, be entertaining, and just review some f*@king cars properly.
Another thing that I don’t get: why is TGA based at an airfield? TGUK is because, a) Britain has a lot of them b) it’s a place away from populations where they can do the driving without annoying people with noise.
Why isn’t TGA based somewhere like, say, a race track? Here in Queensland, for example, they could set up shop in Ipswich/Brisbane and use QR during the week when it’s not in use. A proper race track to do testing on. Plus there’s a bunch of sheds/paddocks/whatever out Ipswich way to have a studio. Just a thought.
GTRmon “(2) They actually reviewed cars. Not, as someone said, “drove around like an 18 year old”. Seriously, Charlie acts like a P plater with the keys to dad’s expensive car. The dude is an ex-racing driver, wtf!?”
I resemble – err I mean resent that comment! (woooo….yeahhhhhhhh!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrr!!!)
What happened to the old days when thay just tested a car and gave to a run down on how thay performed .Like i wont to buy a small suv thay didnt tell me any thing . Thay just acted like kids in the sand dunes with no feed back. And as if i would drive a toyota rav though the dunes like those idiots
If Clarkson likes Ester Ranson why can\’t I like Vicki Butler-Henderson?
Look, Australian Top Gear was a good idea – aussies CAN be funny, because if the couldn’t we’d all suicide because our lives are so boring. And we obviously love cars – bazillions of people above this comment felt so compelled about a car show that they wrote an essay on it. Hey, I did too.
Charlie Cox just comes across like a tosser. I don’t know if he is one in real life – I will assume he isn’t – but he reminds me of Dicko, except Cox doesn’t even seem to know what he’s talking about. He even insults his other hosts – probably because he feels the need to emulate Clarkson – but where Clarkson is joking, and quite funny, Cox seems harsh, and quite hurtful. He talks himself up non-stop, and unfortunately, is too stale, emotionless, and lacking in enthusiasm to be strong host. Unless you haven’t worked it out, I think he is the main problem with the show.
Pizzati and Brown, in contrast, have potential. Pizzati may have a, uh… distinctive voice, but when Cox is removed from the equation, he is playful and enjoyable to watch, in a happy-go-lucky, geeky sort of way. When he is talking with Cox, he tries to appear knowledgable, but becomes boring, and his voice becomes more irritable for the viewer. Odd, but it’s true. Oh, and he needs to throw out the “designer” stubble – he grosses out even my girlfriend, and that takes a lot considering she puts up with a fugly person like me.
Brown is doing a better job of keeping me watching TGA. Although he never comes across as being anything but nervous and unsure of what he should say, when he does open his mouth, usually it’s because he’s got an interesting point to make. And at least he’s got a sense of humour that doesn’t pick out all the motoring cliches of the last 50 years (yes, I’m talking about you, Cox!). And I think the cartooning thing makes him a bit unique – a bit like Top Gear itself really: a little bit different, but always very funny.
All the hosts have the same problem – that forced delivery that so many people have commented about on this site. But there is light at the end of the tunnel – the “Smart Hearse” story (that didn’t include Cox), worked rather well, because it had a sense of fun and spontinaety about it.
And I agree with everything others have said about the Top Gear track – it looks really boring, the camera angles don’t give you any sense of what it looks like – and I guess it doesn’t help that Cox is obviously feigning enthusiasm and feeling quite stupid while he’s talking about a lap.
And what’s with calling the Australian driver “The Stig” too? That’s like having an Australian Harry Potter. Why are there two alien like racing drivers called “The Stig” on the planet – don’t even pretend that they’re one and the same person. What do Top Gear want to do with 2 stigs? Breed them? Actually, that could make for quite an interesting adults-only episode. Are the Stigs both men? Do the Stigs even have genitalia?
Oh, and “What were they thinking” when they made that segment? It is no substitute for the cool board. Episode one of this segment showed promise, but episode two was so unfunny I cringed. Why couldn’t they have thought of something funnier, like matching newly released cars with the social-stereotypes that drive them? Come on, I’m no comedian – when SBS spends a million dollars an episode, surely they can come up with something better.
The production of the show itself is very good – you can tell that it’s been handled with care in the editing room. It looks slick, even though the presenters aren’t. Well, yet.
I don’t really have much hope for Cox, but Pizzati and Brown’s styles should develop nicely. They have their own niche personalities that are different from the british TG three – Pizzati is a sort of Gen Y chic geek, and Brown is the honest, man-of-reason with a cartoonist bent sort of person. What a shame Charlie Cox has already tried to brand Warren Brown our James May with his endless comments about the slow nature of his driving. What will he call Warren? “Captain Sluggish?” – Come on boys, average viewers like me can see through these things.
Well, my message is clear – dump Charlie Cox. You do not need someone who knows everything about cars. Even worse, you do not need someone who THINKS they know everything about cars, like Cox.
Top Gear Australia CAN work – it just NEEDS work. They can replace hosts; TG Britain replaced some fat guy with James May ages ago, and haven’t looked back.
The thing is, Top Gear Australia to flourish, and for the hosts to relax into their roles, they need far less pressure on them to perform. I’m obviously not helping here, but if SBS expects millions of viewers, and millions of advertising dollars, it must wait a few years, and let Top Gear, like a swiss cheese, mature.
But the holes in Top Gear Australia’s program shouldn’t be left alone, like in a swiss cheese. They need fixing.
Whoa – the length of this doesn’t make me look like I don’t have a life, now does it?
The Falcon and Commodore comparison was pathetic.
The tests weren’t even accurate which is pretty sad. The Commodore had a 1/2 second start doing the 1/4 mile in which they didnt even mention.
They didn’t even give us any proper specs like power/torque/weight or anything technical or even price for that matter.
Also whats up with not taking the Commodore around for a lap to compare it to the Falcon?
The only thing they could do was half a** attempts at burnouts.
They have the right cars but simply don’t know what to do with them.
And lets not even go in to the SMART and coffin thingy. That was really pathetic and in bad taste.
Pretty bad so far. Hopefully it will improve or else it will definitely get the flick.
Cheers
whinge whinge whinge!
its only been two episodes, please everyone give it a chance, im sure they will come along sooner rather than later! yes the show needs to be polished up, yes they arent entirely comfortable (imo) as presenters, but remember sbs has gone for people who have proper driving experience and enthusiasm rather than the journo type who merely reads cue cards…the 2nd episode was a big improvement over the 1st and i feel it will get better as time goes on…
it seems to me that alot of people bashing have a reeeal bad case of cultural cringe!
If rubbish like kath and kim can some how survive, nay excel (i cant stand that show for the record), the TGA can…you just have to give it a chance, Australia needs a proper car show and this could be it!
After the first two episodes of TGA I can honestly say I would prefer to watch Fifth Gear with Vicki, Tom and Tiff, at least they tell you if the car is good or bad. The first episode comparison told me nothing about the the Forester, RAV4, and Xtrail, who are they trying to please, the car manufactures or the motoring public?
Robj – I agree with you that Rachel Splatt would make a good replacement Host for Cox … However;
F3 Championship Leader – Leanne Tander;
Former Brute Ute Racer – Danielle A’giro or even Production Car Racer – Amber Anderson
would know a helluva lot more about cars than Lowndes’ Wife.. all she would be able to say is “it has very comfy interior and comes in Pink [hehehe]“
All this discussion goes to prove that the potential exists in this country for a fair dinkum, no holds barred motoring show for enthusiasts.
I think you would all agree that such a show is overdue.
The problem is that TGA with its current pretender’s format and hopelessly overblown hosts just, doesn’t cut it.
I am curious enough to continue watching to see if can get any worse however I’m certain that I will be constantly preying that Piss-ant pisses off ASAP and Cox cripples himself with his own ego.
If Brown was given a new team he might eventually measure up providing he TRIES TO BE BROWN and nobody else.
The real big winner out of this disgraceful farce is the so-called SBS “Talent Scout” who pocketed big bucks for selecting such an inept team in the first place.
The sponsors (advertisers) of the show should be concerned about having their products (cars) tainted by the low-brow image that the presenters seem intent on projecting.
It’s all too crass
I’ve gone back and re-watched Series One from TGUK… Even they got off to a lack-lustre start. I’ll keep watching in the short-term.
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