Gregson Mathe
So Clarkson, Hammond, and May are continuing to promote their new show in Amazon. We don’t know anything more on it other than it’s coming. Still no release date. Another thing they are working on is their website called DriveTribe. We know they already have mega funding to the tune of 5.5 million as we reported before.
Now it seems that they have raised even more money, but we’re not entirely sure why. And it being “raised” is also in doubt as it seems to be more of an investment than a raising of funds.
According to the Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has invested $6.5m (£4.8m) in an online car lovers community started by the former Top Gear team.
Presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, along with producer Andy Wilman left the BBC last year and are now working on the Grand Tour for Amazon, due out this autumn.
However, in the interim they began work on DriveTribe, which describes itself as a “the world’s digital hub for motoring”, giving professional writers and video-makers, as well as a community of users, the ability to make and upload content.
The quartet are working with Ernesto Schmitt, who formerly founded Zeebox, a social TV app, with one of the people behind the BBC’s iPlayer, Anthony Rose.
“21st Century Fox are a world-leading media business with a track record of extraordinary savviness and innovation,” said Schmitt, who is DriveTribe’s chief executive.
“It’s extremely pleasing to have 21st Century Fox take note of our venture, and we look forward to working with them on redefining how audiences discover and engage with content, through the use of technology and community.
But again it’s vague on exactly what they’re going to put the money towards. They’ve also completely disregarded the existence of Car Throttle which seems to be the exact same thing based on the DriveTribe explanation from their website.
Fox Networks Group chief executive, Peter Rice, said: “We saw the DriveTribe platform and we were blown away by its ingenuity.
So we have a shit ton of money being thrown at a website that hasn’t even launched yet that could be second-to-market within the genre. What could go wrong?
Actually I’m just being a bit of a dick. DriveTribe will undoubtedly be a success given the celebrity level Clarkson, Hammond, and May are at along with the backing. Car Throttle aside, DriveTribe has already garnered tons of attention from the automotive community and I for one am incredibly interested to see exactly what it all entails.
No matter what happens, The Grand Tour is coming and that will only enhance the value and future of DriveTribe.
(Source: The Guardian)
h/t to Jalopnik
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