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The controversial Church of Scientology has proven to be a ratings-magnet for the US channel HBO, with its documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, setting a ratings record.
According to overnight ratings data, roughly 1.7 million viewers in the United States tuned into the documentary which detailed, among other things, the shocking conditions for low-ranked workers in the church, and the history of its battle to win tax-free status.
That number is expected to double once subsequent broadcasts, DVR playback and plays on the HBO streaming service HBO Go are factored in.
The documentary will air in Australia on Foxtel's Showcase channel later this year, as part of Foxtel's overall deal with HBO. But because it comes through the company's film arm, HBO Films, there is a delay caused by a "theatrical window", which allows the film to be released in cinemas or screened at festivals.
A similar distribution arrangement caused the delay in airing the critically acclaimed HBO film Behind The Candelabra in Australia.
Going Clear is being released in Australian cinemas on June 18 via Madman Films.
Going Clear included a series of stunning allegations, including suggestions the church won its tax-free status by bombarding the US government's revenue collection arm, the IRS, with lawsuits.
It also claimed that the church exercised a disturbing amount of control over its members, forced some to work in disgusting and degrading conditions and ordered others to disconnect from their families.
And that the church deliberately ended the marriage of actor Tom Cruise and his Australian wife, actress Nicole Kidman, which included tapping her phone, and ordering him to submit to daily "audits".
The church also organised a new girlfriend for Cruise, Homeland actress Nazanin Boniadi.
The Church of Scientology denies the allegations made in the documentary.
The documentary was produced and directed by Alex Gibney and was based on Lawrence Wright's 2013 book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief.
It featured interviews with the church's former second-in-command Mark Rathbun, and the former head of the church's "Office of Special Affairs" Mike Rinder, as well as a number of high-profile former Scientologists including the Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis and actor Jason Beghe.
