The Walking Dead ’s season two finalé was watched by 9 million viewers in the States on Sunday. That’s a whopping 50% increase in audience over its season one finalé and the biggest audience the show has ever had. If you add in the repeat screening shown later on Sunday, the cumulative total goes up to 10.5 million.
That’s an amazing figure for a US cable channel, and to out it into context, Once Upon A Time , shown on main TV network ABC that same night, only managed 8.6 million viewers, and that kind of figure is considered acceptable on the major networks these days. It’s like Sky One over here beating ITV 1 in the ratings. on a Sunday night.
Overall, season two of The Walking Dead averaged 6.9 million total viewers, up 32% from season one. No wonder AMC has commissioned it for two further seasons.
An ecstatic AMC is also trumpeting specific figures in other “key demographics” for the season finalé, showing how The Walking Dead has broken records for a cable TV series: Adults and Men 18-34, Adults and Men 18-49, and Adults and Men 25-54. Basically, men like this show.
Here in the UK, the season two finalé will air on FX on Friday at 10pm.
