Top Gear is getting its lowest ratings in more than a decade after losing half its viewers in two weeks since relaunch
"Shouty" new host Chris Evans has attracted the most ridicule, most recently for being sick on a fast lap round the Top Gear track
TOP Gear has lost nearly half its viewers in just two weeks and attracted its smallest live audience in more than a decade on Sunday.
New "shouty" host Chris Evans has attracted the bulk of the criticism and was recently ridiculed for being sick on a fast lap round the Top Gear track with racing driver Sabine Schmitz.
The show's ratings are expected to increase when catch-up figures from fans watching online are taken into account.
However, they will still likely fall behind the numbers Clarkson, Hammond and May pulled in on a regular basis.
Two weeks ago, Evans defended the new-look show and tweeted: "The new Top Gear is a hit. OFFICIALLY. 23% audience share.
"12% MORE than the opening episode of the last series. These are the FACTS."
However, when figures dropped he wrote that "overnight television viewing figures have never been less relevant but newspapers prefer to live in the past."
Evans has also admitted in the past he would be “disappointed” if the ratings didn’t reach 5 million.
The lowest ever rating for Top Gear was reportedly 2.36 million in 2003, according to an industry source cited by the .
Evans has yet to comment on the new viewing figures.
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Aside from Evans' presenting style, fans have also criticised the lack of chemistry between the main host and Matt le Blanc and the Sun reported how canned laughter was used to cover up awkward silences in the TV studio.
Evans was also snapped slumped up against a wall with a glass of wine in hand last week, flummoxed by poor viewing figures and negative reviews.
The show has even failed to take off in the US, despite the presence of household name Matt le Blanc.
While Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May managed to pull in more than half-a-million viewers on their final premiere, the new line-up is lagging behind.
The first episode of the revamped motor show pulled in just 388,000 viewers - down from 530,000 on the first episode of the last series.
This low number even includes viewers who watched the motorhead show on record, according to Nielson ratings.
Clarkson and his former co-hosts May and Hammond will be back with a new Amazon Prime motoring show called The Grand Tour, which will make its debut on Amazon Prime in the autumn.
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