Sunday’s “The Walking Dead,” which served as the seventh season finale, outperformed the previous week’s episode in adults 18-49 and total viewership. It also ranked as Sunday night’s #1 show in those metrics.
Its numbers nonetheless sharply trail those posted by the sixth season finale.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s “TWD” drew a 5.42 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 11.31 million overall viewers. Not simply up from last week’s episode (4.88, 10.54 million), it was the highest-rated and most-watched episode since the midseason premiere.
They do not compare favorably to last year’s finale, however. Airing on April 3, 2016, the sixth season finale drew a 6.92 adults 18-49 rating and 14.19 million viewers.
Sunday’s “TWD” led into “Into The Badlands.” Despite the improved lead-in support, “Badlands” actually slipped (1.36 rating, 3.11 million viewers this week vs. 1.49 rating, 3.41 million last week).
Airing after “Into The Badlands,” Sunday’s “Talking Dead” drew a 1.10 rating and 2.55 million viewers. The numbers best the 0.91 rating and 2.14 million viewer mark garnered by last week’s episode.
A comparison to last year’s post-finale “Talking Dead” is not relevant since it aired immediately after “The Walking Dead” rather than following “Into The Badlands.”