We have refrained from making commentary about the all new look Top Gear because everybody is doing it and we find the whole process tedious. New look Top Gear essentially rehashes what old Top Gear did but with several new presenters. However as the last episode for the current series aired on BBC2 on June 3rd the worlds most factual TV show saw a steep decline in the ratings. An average of 1.9m viewers tuned in to watch the show. So that begs the question… What the hell has happened? Lets take a look at the overall ratings for Top Gears 8pm timeslot. The BBC gave a number of mitigating circumstances as to why TV ratings continue to tumble from an opening 4.5 million for the first episode to a depressing 1.9m who watched the last episode. Top Gear had to contend with rival broadcaster ITV’s quarter-final coverage of the 2016 European Football Championship clash between France and Ireland. The latter attracted 6.6 million viewers. Top Gear also had to contend with the BBC’s ever popular Antiques Road Show which attracted 3.9 million TV viewers over on BBC1. The BBC also stated “Sunday evening’s Top Gear was about 800,000 down on last week’s average of 2.7m – and just over half the number that watched the series launch”. There have been unsubstantiated rumours, driven by the media – who else, that the new presenting team has been dogged by infighting. There has been alleged tension between the presenters with a faction forming between lead presenter Chris Evans and Matt Leblanc the latter who also has the other presenters on his side. Chris Evans was the toxic fallout from the 1990’s a TV and Radio star who rose quickly, fell quickly and earned multi-millions from shrewd business deals during that period. When the first episode of the new look Top Gear aired the hour long show seemed to turn into the Chris Evans show. Fans immediately took to social media to vent their disapproval. Evans has taken the brunt of the extreme criticism with comments about his “shouty” presenting style and a tendency to wear the same drab looking attire throughout the 6 shows. Behind the scenes Evans has full production control acting as an Executive Producer without portfolio. Rumours have also surfaced of his bullying attitude towards members of the production staff and this has caused a division with the presenting team. This off-air tension is said to have caused a number of clashes between Evans and Matt Leblanc. The former friends star has threatened to quit if Evans isn’t sacked. However the maxim is always never believe what news organisations write or say, they lie to make up news. There does seem to be good news, new presenters Rory Reid and Chris Harris have been well received but mainly by the media critics. And that’s a problem for a number of reasons. One reason is that both Reid and Harris are known personalities within media circles which may well fester commentators who may have biased opinions, a sub-conscious sense of loyalty. Media luvvies pick and choose their favourites and this creates a bit of a celebrity bubble. In other words Reid and Harris could end up believing what is being written about them is representative of what the fans really think. The evidence can be drawn from the latest set of disappointing TV ratings which forced Chris Evans to resign from the show 12 months into a lucrative 3 year contract. However if the ratings continue to decline in the second series of new Top Gear or stay below 2 million then it really is a bombshell moment for Top Gear. The problem for Top Gear was never about the new presenters it was about the shock and sudden departure of Clarkson, Hammond and May. It could be that fans of the show never got to say a proper goodbye to Clarkson he just left and that was it. Suddenly being presented with a host of new presenters would have been like an alien being from a solar system in Ursa Minor replacing Simon Cowell on the X Factor. It either works or it doesn’t. There is no doubt Clarkson had to go, but Clarkson was the missing link that turned Top Gear from a parochial car show into a hit worldwide entertainment show about cars.