‘Walking Dead’ = Big Ratings for Sunday on Basic Cable

10-17-11 • TV Posted by Adam A. Donaldson

As perhaps evidence that there’s no such thing as bad news, the second season premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead killed in the ratings and rose the fortunes of the series from the dead after a summer full of controversy.

Sunday night’s 90-minute premiere drew about 7.3 million viewers, and that includes 4.8 million viewers in the 18-49 demo, and 4.2 million viewers in the 25-54 column. That was an improvement of 38 per cent and 36 per cent respectively over season one’s average. With the two repeat airings at 10:30 pm and 12:30 am, Walking Dead‘s cumulative audience for the whole night was 11 million viewers. No word though on how “Talking Dead,” the post-Walking Dead discussion show hosted by Chris Hardwick, did in the ratings, but really, who cares?

At least AMC executives are pleased though. “The Walking Dead is one of those rare television programs that reaches both a core genre fan as well as broad audiences simply looking for a great, character-based story,” said AMC President Charlie Collier. “We’re so proud of and grateful for the amazing team on both sides of the camera who works so hard and is so committed to making this a unique programming event. That The Walking Dead is now the most watched drama in the history of basic cable is staggering, just like our zombies.”

So just how big was Walking Dead’s premiere night? To put it in context, the only thing bigger last night in those key demos, on either network TV or basic cable, was NBC’s Sunday Night Football. True, more people watched the Chicago Bears clobber the Minnesota Vikings, but it looks like America’s second favorite sport is now watching people run for their lives from flesh-eating zombies. Natch! Well done, America!

Source: Hitfix.com