Well, its on tonight, and while it will no doubt make excruciating viewing millions are expected to tune in to Martin Bashir’s ‘Living with Michael Jackson’ documentary when its airs on ITV1 at 9pm.
Meanwhile the ABC network has won the rights to screen the show in the US after a reported bidding war between the American TV companies. Previous interviews with Jacko conducted by Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer attracted huge audience in the US, and neither of those involved anything like the research and access of Bashir’s documentary. Media reports in the US suggest ABC paid between $4 million and $5 million to screen it.
The ABC airing is likely to be on 7 Feb. Rival network NBC have put together their own one hour documentary on Jacko. Originally scheduled for 17 Feb, this might now be brought forward to compete with the ABC screening of the ITV programme.