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The presenters of 'Top Gear' are making a new TV show for Amazon

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, the former presenters of BBC motoring series "Top Gear," will star in a new online show for Amazon Prime customers.

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The trio's new series will premiere next year, Amazon announced in a press release.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon has won the global rights for the show, and is able to license the content to TV networks around the world.

top gear
Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. Peter Macdiarmid / Getty

The presenters have signed a three-year deal with Amazon that will see them create three seasons of the show, starting in 2016. Amazon has not yet announced a name for the new series.

Former "Top Gear" executive producer Andy Wilman is also on board with the new project. The producer, who has known Clarkson since they went to school together, left the BBC following Clarkson's departure. He will now manage the series, and is part of the new production company for the show, named "W. Chump & Sons Limited."

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Clarkson left "Top Gear" earlier this year after reports of a "fracas" between him and producer Oisin Tymon. The presenter was accused of punching Tymon following a meal, and Clarkson subsequently left the show, along with his fellow presenters.

Former "Top Gear" presenters James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.
A press photo released by Amazon. Amazon Prime Video

Rival streaming service Netflix had been touted as a possible home for the presenters following their departure from the BBC. However, it looks like the company was outbid by Amazon. A source close to the deal told The Wall Street Journal that "we’ve never seen a horse race like this," hinting that there was a bidding war for the series.

The BBC has already set about finding a replacement team to present "Top Gear." It has signed up veteran TV presenter and radio DJ Chris Evans as the lead presenter. Evans is known for his love of cars, so the BBC will be hoping that he can become a likeable face for the motoring show.

Amazon Studios is the division of Amazon which creates original online shows for subscribers to the site's Amazon Prime subscription service. CEO Jeff Bezos explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month that the company is searching for TV shows that will become people's favourite:

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One way you can think about TV is you can say, 'I want to make something that millions and millions of people are going to watch.' If that's your starting point, you paint yourself into a corner and you often end up with homogenized, uninteresting content. If you say, 'Let's hire the world's greatest storytellers. Let's encourage them to take risks,' then you're going to end up with a remarkable story, and remarkable stories always find an audience.

Amazon's video subscription service is catching up with Netflix for subscribers in the US. But it's not as popular in the UK, as this chart from BARB shows:

Netflix and Amazon video subscriptions in the UK
BARB
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