From start-to-finish, every season five episode of “The Walking Dead” has outdelivered the corresponding season four episode.
Sunday’s midseason finale, for instance, topped its season four counterpart by 24% in the adults 18-49 demographic and 23% in total viewers.
The episode, which culminated with the death of Beth Greene, drew 9.6 million adults 18-49 (approximately a 7.6 rating in the demo) and 14.8 million total viewers. Last year’s fall closer posted a weaker–but still impressive–6.1 rating with 12.06 million.
The strong “Walking Dead” performance led to a strong showing for companion series “The Talking Dead.” Sunday’s episode attracted 4.2 million adults 18-49 (approximately a 3.3 rating) and 6.6 million viewers to rank as the series’ most-watched post-midseason finale episode on record.