There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that The Walking Dead is TV’s biggest show after breaking another ratings record on Sunday while taking down the NFL in the process…
Everyone knew The Walking Dead season 5 debut would produce record numbers, but the ratings for last night’s episode were so big, they even crushed the mighty NFL.
The Walking Dead premiere on Sunday pulled in a massive 17.3 million viewers with 11 million in the coveted 18-49 year old demographic. By comparison, The Walking Dead pulled in 2.5 million more viewers during the 9pm time slot than the NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants.
The season 5 premiere also shattered the previously held record by The Walking Dead from season 4 where the debut pulled in 16.1 million viewers and 10.4 million in the 18-49 demographic last year.
“It’s a Dead man’s party. Who could ask for more?” said Charlie Collier, AMC president in a press release. “Enormous thanks to our friends and executive producers Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, Greg Nicotero – who also directed last night’s terrific premiere – Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert and Tom Luse and all of their fellow producers, cast and crew for everything they do to make the #1 show on television such a unique and incredible experience for the fans. ‘The Walking Dead’ is one of those increasingly rare shows today that can command a live audience not significantly cannibalized by time-shifted viewing. Who would have thought that cannibalized television could be curtailed by cannibal-ized television?”
The scariest part about this debut might be the numbers after +3 day and +7 day viewers are added in. Expectations are pushing 22 million viewers for the 9pm airing of the show, which would be — yep you guessed it — another record.
