The season 7 “The Walking Dead” premiere promised to address a major question: who did Negan kill in the closing moments of season six?
Viewers were evidently very eager to learn the answer. Sunday’s premiere posted monster ratings.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s “TWD” drew a massive 8.36 adults 18-49 rating and 17.03 million total viewers.
The numbers markedly top those of the sixth season premiere (7.43 rating, 14.63 million viewers) and sixth season finale (6.92 rating, 14.19 million viewers).
On a live+same-day basis, the episode ranks as the second-most-watched of all-time. Only the fifth season premiere (17.29 million) drew a larger audience sum.
Lead-out series “Talking Dead” predictably performed well. The episode drew a 3.66 adults 18-49 rating and 7.57 million total viewers.
The answer to the earlier question, by the way, was Abraham. That was not the only death, however. Negan also killed key character Glenn during the horrifying exchange.