In a story that has become quite common for the drama, this week’s edition of “The Walking Dead” slipped in adults 18-49 and overall viewership but still towered over its competition.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s “The Walking Dead” drew a 2.80 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 6.60 million overall viewers.
The numbers trail last week’s 2.86 rating and 6.82 million viewer mark. The demo rating is the show’s lowest since season one, while the viewer mark is the worst since season two.
Still, “The Walking Dead” convincingly outperformed its competition.
It easily ranked as cable’s most-watched Sunday original (nothing else even cracked 3 million). It also ranked as the night’s #1 show in adults 18-49, besting the 2.3 drawn by ABC’s “American Idol” premiere (that “American Idol” premiere, it should be noted, may have taken a bite out of this week’s “The Walking Dead” number).
“The Walking Dead” may, moreover, rank as the week’s #1 program in adults 18-49. It will also receive huge lifts from DVR and multi-platform viewing.
It would nonetheless be irresponsible to totally downplay the decline. Interest in the show has clearly faded.
The same-time-last-year episode, as an example, drew a 4.88 rating and averaged 10.68 million viewers. And that performance was actually underwhelming in comparison to the show’s peak levels.
— Sunday’s “TWD” led into “Talking Dead,” which drew a 0.85 rating and averaged 2.32 million viewers.
