Entertainment

Leaving Neverland a favourite with American, British viewers

Leaving Neverland is heading up the charts for U.S. and British networks.

Unsparing film is about Michael Jackson and his alleged sexual abuse of boys

Wade Robson, in a white hat sitting next to his sister Chantal, mother Joy and Michael Jackson, is one of two men who allege sexual abuse by the late superstar when they were boys. (HBO)

Leaving Neverland is heading up the charts for U.S. and British networks.

The unsparing documentary about Michael Jackson and his alleged sexual abuse is already the third most-watched documentary of the past decade at HBO, the U.S. cable network, which takes pride in its documentary schedule.

Across the pond, free-to-air network Channel 4, which produced the documentary film along with HBO, said Leaving Neverland has broken streaming records, Variety reported.

For HBO, Leaving Neverland is likely to surpass Bright Lights, the movie about Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher, which is currently in second place.

The first half of the four-hour program on Jackson has been seen by 3.67 million people in the United States, the Nielsen company said. The second half stands at 2.45 million. Those totals are expected to go up as people catch up with the program through delayed viewing.

In Britain, the first half averaged 2.1 million viewers, while the second half averaged 1.9 million when the film aired last week, Variety reported.

In this Jan. 24 file photo, Robson, left, director Dan Reed, centre, and James Safechuck pose for a portrait to promote the film Leaving Neverland at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. (Taylor Jewell/Invision/Associated Press)

HBO's most-watched documentary over the past decade is Going Clear about Scientology.