We’re not surprised that The Walking Dead has been killing in the ratings, but it is remarkable how it keeps getting stronger and bigger all the time. The show now just had another milestone in that it actually beat out Sunday Night Football and the World Series.
As Variety tells us, 12.9 million viewers tuned in on Sunday, October 27, beating out the Green Bay / Chicago football game on NBC in the 18-49 demo. And this is when Walking Dead ratings are down from its fourth season debut episode, which pulled in 16 million viewers.
Walking Dead was broadcast twice on the 27th, and it brought in 15.8 million total, a bit down from the show’s debut, but it still beat out the professional sporting events that played on the same night. So with all this incredible success the Walking Dead has been enjoying, it’s not surprising it’s getting renewed for a fifth season.
AMC president Charlie Collier even told Entertainment Weekly in a statement, “We are very happy to make what has to be one of the most anti-climactic renewal announcements ever: The Walking Dead is renewed for a fifth season…Thank you to the fans and here’s to more Dead.”
We’ve said it many times before, and it bears repeating…It is truly amazing that zombies are still the hot monster, and that The Walking Dead is still doing so well after all this time. USA Today headlined their report that The Walking Dead “renewal is less than shocking,” but it is indeed shocking that the undead have lasted so long where a lot of other trends have passed by the wayside long ago.
