The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 9 - Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC
Although it was down non-trivially from last year’s midseason premiere, Sunday’s “The Walking Dead” outdrew the fall finale in adults 18-49 and overall viewership. It also gave AMC the Sunday cable crown in both columns.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, the episode drew a 1.20 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 3.52 million overall viewers. The numbers top the 1.02 rating and 3.21 million viewer mark garnered by the fall finale — and actually rank as the show’s best since early in the ongoing 10th season (best demo rating since the second episode, best viewership number since the premiere).
The February 2019 premiere, as noted, drew a far stronger 2.0 rating and 5.16 million viewer mark. Still, “The Walking Dead” remains a strong from a competitive standpoint. In addition to ranking as cable’s #1 Sunday show, the episode bested nearly all Sunday night broadcast programming in the demo. Only ABC’s “American Idol” fared better.
It also continues to receive lifts from DVR, on-demand and AMC streaming.
“TWD” led into night one of the “Better Call Saul” season premiere. The episode drew a 0.49 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 1.60 million overall viewers. The numbers narrowly top the 0.47 rating and 1.53 million viewer mark garnered by the previous season finale, but it is worth noting that said episode aired on a Monday without “TWD” lead-in support.