'Walking Dead' finale lurches to series highs for AMC
Zombie drama closes Season 1 with 6 million viewers
A couple 'Walking Dead' zombies
Credit: AMC
AMC's zombie smash "Walking Dead" went out with a bang on Sunday (Dec. 5) night, narratively and audience-wise.
Leaving aside the narrative bang -- some people haven't watched the episode yet -- "The Walking Dead" drew more than 6 million total viewers in its first 10 p.m. airing, rising to 8.1 million viewers with the addition of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. encores.
In its first airing, "The Walking Dead" pulled in 4 million viewers in the key 18-49 demo, ranking first in that demo among basic cable for a drama series. For its truncated six-episode first season, "The Walking Dead" averaged 3.5 million viewers in the 18-49 demo, making it the most watched drama series in basic cable history for the demo.
"The Walking Dead" is far-and-away the most successful original series in AMC's history and has already been renewed for a second season. The 13-episode second season of "The Walking Dead" isn't expected to premiere until next fall.
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupMad Bad Con Dead Killing
December 6, 2010 at 9:55PM EST Reply to CommentHopefully AMC will use some of the money generated from TWD to build expensive new sets for Breaking Bad's fourth season, as Walt will likely go on the lam after escaping from Mike's clutches.
velocityknown Are you kidding? No way Walt goes on the run. He's the only option Gus has now. If he goes on the run he's totally defeated the purpose of Jesse killing Gale.
December 6, 2010 at 11:11PM ESTSorry, couldn't resist a little Breaking Bad discussion.
December 6, 2010 at 10:01PM EST Reply to CommentI hope there will be many season of the "Walking Dead", as there are many books (http://amzn.to/eB3LQE) ...
Mad bad con dead killing No. You could probably condense volumes 3-8 in about a season and a half. A lot of the stuff that happens in those arcs is pretty redundant and boring. They should leave the p*****n by the end of season 3.
December 6, 2010 at 10:06PM EST