TV viewers preferred ‘Kath & Kim’ over the new Michael Hutchence doco

There’s been plenty of criticism in regards to the new Michael Hutchence documentary, Michael Hutchence: The Last Rockstar. But now it seems as though the new documentary didn’t go over too well in the end, with many viewers preferring old standards and reality TV to the music program.

When announced last month, there were mixed reactions to the proposed documentary, which promised never-before-seen family videos, footage, and interviews with some of Hutchence’s peers. “This is not a biopic treading over old territory – this will make headlines around the world,” executive producer Mark Llewellyn noted at the time.

However, in recent days, reception has been greatly negative, with many of those close to the late rockstar weighing in on the matter, including INXS and Universal Music, who made efforts to distance themselves from the project, claiming it to be “unauthorised”.

Producer Danny Saber made a statement in regards to the band and label’s decision stating, “The bottom line is this: nobody is going to benefit more from this than INXS. Never Tear Us Apart [the telemovie], let’s be honest, it was what it was but they did [soap] Neighbours, we’re doing Shakespeare – and you can quote me on that.”

With part one of Michael Hutchence: The Last Rockstar airing on Monday, followed by the finale last night, the TV ratings have been released and they’re, to paraphrase an old INXS tune, mystifying.

As The Music points out, viewing figures from TV Tonight indicate that people didn’t really appreciate the program all that much.

Monday night’s premiere drew in 526,000 viewers, making it the 18th most-watched program on TV that night. Last night’s finale managed to draw in 488,000, but fared better overall, becoming the 16th most-watched program of the night.

Sadly though, it appears that viewers were more interested in watching programs such as the various news programs that were on TV, Home & Away, or even a rerun of Kath & Kim, which managed to draw in 33,000 more viewers overall.

With The Block and The Big Bang Theory as the two most-watched programs of the evening, it is rather disheartening to see that Aussie viewers weren’t too keen on a doco about one of music’s most beloved frontmen.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.