After the series premiere raked in such huge ratings, viewership for AMC’s The Walking Dead actually increased over the course of the six-episode first season run, reaching its series high with the season finale this past Sunday night. The first airing pulled in a whopping 6 million total viewers with 4 million of those viewers in the key demographic of adults aged 18-49. This number brings the series average to 3.5 million viewers per episode, and makes The Walking Dead the most watched drama series in basic cable history (at least within that aforementioned demographic). You can get the full rundown of the ratings success in the press release after the jump.
My only complaint with the finale’s success is the lack of pomp and circumstance surrounding the end of the season. While the finale itself was a solid episode, it felt like the penultimate episode leading up to the season finale, rather than the conclusion itself. Don’t get me wrong, I still find The Walking Dead to be one of the more compelling drama series on TV, but I was hoping for something more to conclude such a short season when there’s such a long wait until the second season. Maybe that’s part of the reason the writing staff won’t be back next season. What do you think?
New York, NY – December 6, 2010 – Sunday night’s finale of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” attracted four million viewers in the Adult 18-49 demo. With a series average of 3.5 million Adults 18-49, “The Walking Dead” is the most watched drama series in basic cable history for the demo.* The finale was the most-watched episode of the season, garnering a 4.1 HH rating and attracting six million total viewers. The final episode ranks first for Adults 18-49 delivery among basic cable for a drama series.
*Source: NMR (1993-12/05/2010), Adults 18-49, program indicator general drama, ad supported cable networks.
Key Ratings Highlights for the finale of The Walking Dead:
- 10pm airing – 4.1 HH rating with more than 6 million total viewers;
- 10 pm, 11:00 pm and 1am airings – Gross audience to a 5.7 HH rating with 8.1 million total viewers;
- Adults 18-49 – 4 million viewers;
- Adults 25-54 – 3.5 million viewers.
Recently greenlit for a second season, “The Walking Dead” is AMC’s first wholly-owned production. Following its debut on AMC on Sunday, October 31, the series premiered globally in 120 countries and in 33 languages, through an unprecedented partnership between AMC and Fox International Channels. Following record breaking ratings for the international premiere, “The Walking Dead” has continued to deliver stellar ratings on Pay TV in all Fox International Channels’ markets, including the UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
“The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The series tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The comic goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, and sometimes the interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Over time, the characters are changed by the constant exposure to death and some grow willing to do anything to survive.
“The Walking Dead” received rave reviews from countless critics, who heralded the series as “the best new show on TV” (Entertainment Weekly), “visually stunning…and daring in its artful use of silence” (TV Guide), “…breathtaking in its small moments, in which the pain and glory of being human are conveyed with only the flick of a filmmaking wrist.” (Wall Street Journal), “…evocative, suspenseful” (Boston Globe) “…surprisingly scary and remarkably good” (The New York Times) “…a triumph of tone and mood” (Contra Costa Times) and “a real achievement for a horror show on a basic-cable network” (Rolling Stone). In addition, “The Walking Dead” received “4 Stars” from People and “3 Stars” from the New York Daily News and New York Post, among other outlets.
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Good to hear, really enjoyed this season and can’t wait till Oktober comes w/ the 2nd.
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The finale sucked. It deviated from what show is really about; characters. And left room for awkwardly delivered exposition that no one even wanted. It wasn’t up to the standard, quality-wise, that the rest of the season had set up. And you know, sometimes ending with an actual bang is actually ending with a whimper.
Wow. You really can’t please everyone.
Yep, it sucked–an excellent example of why the writers deserved their firing. The entire conflict of the final episode is what? A character we’ve just met suddenly wants to kill everyone for no logical reason with the help of a ridiculously contrived and oh-so-tired self destruct countdown. And the freakin’ zombies? Where were they?
The production values may high, but the plot is pure Mansquito.
The writers were never fired. How many times has that been debunked already?
I know it was a gamble (I’m glad it payed off) but they should have went all out and had a full 13 episode season. OH well. See you next year.
I think people have become too used to big finales at the end of seasons personally. It speaks to the lack of sophistication in the viewing audience that so many people feel cheated if there isn’t some huge event in the finale. I felt the 6th episode (AKA season finale) represented well what the series should be. I’d much rather have a bunch of “Oh shit!” moments sprinkled throughout the season that have them hold all their big guns for the finale, or worse telegraph their punches with buildup to something we see coming a mile off. It’s not like they didn’t leave us wanting more on this show, numbers for season 2 premiere with be HUGE even without some dumb cliffhanger waiting to be resolved. Screw big finales. We’re all adults here, give us great episodes every week like this show did and we’ll come back for more.
There was a huge event. The goddamn CDC exploded. I’m not looking for the finale to go out with a bang, but it definitely shouldn’t have gone out with a whimper. The entire episode was filled with the exposition we didn’t need and all the cliche talk and theories about the “rest of the world” that we hear in all other zombie movies. It took a detour from what the show has been focusing on for the rest of the season: humanity. Yes, there was some of it at the start of the episode, but then it derailed.
I agree. I think there should be a 2 hour special for the spring/summer and then begin season 2 in October.
I think people complaining about the finale are missing the point of the whole episode. The entire conflict of the final episode – “Dogg” – was to force each and every character to realize the true weight of their situation, then decide whether or not to continue trying to survive in their horrific new world. It wasn’t about surviving a “doomsday” clock. Also, the scientist had a very logical reason – he thought it would be more humane than letting them walk into the wilds to starve, be eaten alive by zombies, raped/killed by marauders, etc. I’m no genius, but that makes plenty of sense in my book.
Like junierizzle mentioned, you apparently really can’t please everybody.
Perfectly said RickC!
The doomsday clock was ridiculous. Yes, it gives them the choice of surviving or just giving up, but they have that choice everyday. They can shoot themselves, or give themselves up to the zombie hoard. This time their decisions just had a big red digital clock attached to it for some cheap suspense. It was cliche, unnecessary and detoured from what the show has been focusing on the entire season.
Go back to the first episode where Rick mentions the CDC to Morgan and Morgan tells Rick what he heard about it. The CDC didn’t come out of left field, it made perfect sense for Rick’s group to go there and what happened at the CDC was masterful.
YOu keep saying that the show derailed on what it was focusing on. The show is about a group of people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. It is mixed in with tender moments, zombie attacks, a spot light on what humanity is really like (shane practically trying to rape Ricks wife!) and People coming together (LIke when the old dude comes back to save the blonde woman) All that happened through out the show and the finale. And thats how it ended. These people will not give up and they got out of there before the CDC exploded.
And blowing your own brains out and sitting around waiting to blow up is not the same choice.
I think you are putting too much thought into the countdown. Its just another thing that they had to escape.
I watch T.V. for entertainment, not boredom or two watch several characters reactions to what a hot shower feels like.
I agree, the ending could have been better, but it did not mar the whole season. If the CDC Dr.’s character had been more explored, it would have made more sense his reasoning behind locking them in the chamber. But it really made no sense. He could have explained the situation long before they got to that countdown, and allowed them the choice of leaving or suicide.
And why would he have needed blood tests if he knew they were going to all die the next day anyway? I felt the blood tests were setting the character up to “test” serums out on the survivors without their knowledge or something like that.
Perhaps because it was such a short season, they were not able to fully develop some characters. And they left a lot of loose ends, like what happened to the man and son who was heading that way with the CB radio the cop was talking to? What happened to the brother with the chopped off hand?
Maybe next season we will get to explore those loose ends, as I definitely will be watching!
Yeah you guys do not get it. Think of The Walking Dead Season 1 as the beginning in an epic series of films. Think of it like The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. These characters are traveling to multiple locations and not every character they meet is going to have a finished arc in the season. TS-19 served perfectly as the ending to this masterpiece film in a series by highlighting specifically just how bad the world really has gotten, showing how something like the zombie virus was inevitable, emphazising character development and revealing how hope is what keeps the characters going. Actually Dr. Jenner’s character explained perfectly the situation. He is a logical man that had given up hope as he knew a great deal about the situation and he didn’t want anyone to have to suffer. He also didn’t think Rick’s people would be able to escape which is why he left their escape till the last minute as he didn’t think in a world so devastated they deserved a choice until Rick convinced him otherwise. To tell you the truth if I was in Dr. Jenner’s place I would have done exactly the same thing as I wouldn’t want Rick’s people to have to suffer in the outside world. The blood tests appeared to be something to pique Dr. Jenner’s curiosity and perhaps to see if one of Rick’s people had a cure in their body. However according to Dr. Jenner he found no surprises in the blood tests so they supported Dr. Jenner’s hopelessness.
It’s too bad the last 2 episodes were a waste of my time. I enjoyed the first few episodes but 5 & 6 = boring insignificant boob-tube jibber jabber. Read a book or sort your sock drawers instead, hopefully by next season I will have forgotten the poop storm that penetrated my eye’s and ears.
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