738,000 Aussies tune into ‘Leaving Neverland’ as album sales fall

Michael Jackson’s two-part Leaving Neverland documentary on Channel Ten drew a total of 738,000 overnight metro viewers in Australia.

However the second part on Saturday night dropped significantly to 314,000, from the 424,000 of Friday night.

Leaving Neverland topped all of Friday’s demographics, the 25—54, 18—49 and 16—39.

But for the second part, the 16—39 demo dropped to #3, and the others to #4.

Ratings in New Zealand are expected to be low, as fans began a campaign to boycott its screening there.

Instead, it’s expected that more Kiwis will watch Jackson videos online.

The effect of the claims in the documentary on the late singer’s personal fortune remains to seen in the long run.

From March 3-5 (the documentary premiered in the US on March 3), Jackson’s American album sales fell by 39% and combined song and album sales by 8,000.

If the trend continues, the stakes are high for the Jackson estate.

According to Billboard, Jackson’s recordings generate an estimated $20 million to $25 million a year, and that since his death in 2009, the estate has earned more than $2 billion.

Sony Music entered into a $250 million deal in 2018 for the rights to distribute Jackson’s recordings for a reported seven years.