Maybe you thought the show had peaked after a creatively-middling second season. Maybe you thought the impact of the DISH blackout would put an undue burden on viewership. Maybe you thought the combined competition from the MLB Playoffs and Sunday Night NFL Game would be too much.
No matter what you thought, if you guessed “The Walking Dead” would not open its third season with a bang, you were way off.
AMC confirmed Monday that the season three premiere delivered a viewership average of 10.9 million viewers with 7.3 million in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic.
That 7.3 million figure should translate to an adults 18-49 rating in the 5.7-5.8 ballpark, resulting in a mark that tops that for any scripted series–on broadcast or cable–that has aired this season.
With encores included, more than 15 million watched “TWD” Sunday night.
“Thank you to the fans for making ‘The Walking Dead’ such a tremendous success. We are honored and humbled that television’s largest adult audience resides on AMC. So many people on both sides of the camera worked tirelessly on this project, and I thank and congratulate each of them for their amazing contribution,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC.
