The Walking Dead | Gene Page/AMC
AMC’s “The Walking Dead” predictably ranked as Sunday’s top show in the key adults 18-49 demographic. It also dominantly ranked as the top cable original in overall viewership.
Its numbers do not, however, compare favorably to those posted by the previous midseason premiere.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s midseason premiere drew a 3.64 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 8.28 million overall viewers.
The numbers top the 3.36 rating and 7.89 million viewer mark posted by the fall finale. They also positioned “The Walking Dead” as television’s #1 show in adults 18-49 (beating the Winter Olympics closing ceremony) and cable’s most-watched Sunday original.
“TWD” will, moreover, almost certainly rank as the broadcast week’s top-rated show in adults 18-49 from a live+same-day standpoint.
The numbers, as far as the overall TV landscape goes, represent fantastic ratings. And they do not even reflect the significant lift the show routinely receives from DVR, encore and multi-platform viewing.
The issue is the year-over-year comparison. Facing competition from the Grammys (which far out-rated the Olympics ceremony), last year’s midseason premiere drew a 5.72 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 12.00 million viewers.
And while the current eighth season has been weaker than last year in general, this episode did follow-up on the major development from the fall finale: Carl’s certain death. That, in theory, should have heightened excitement (and viewership) for the midseason premiere.
— “Talking Dead” followed “The Walking Dead” with a 1.47 rating and 3.59 million viewers.