After Breaking Bad and Mad Men went off the air, AMC has relied heavily on The Walking Dead, which has become the network’s flagship show in recent years. However, despite the series’ popularity among fans, its ratings have continued to decline over the past few years, and things hit an all-time low this past Sunday.
As reported by Cosmic Book News, series ratings have fallen to their lowest yet with the show’s most recent episode, which aired on March 24th. “The Calm Before,” which serves as the ninth season’s penultimate episode, scored a series low of 1.5 in the key 18-49 demographic, with a mere 4.15 million viewers tuning in. This marks a decline from the previous episode, “Scars,” which had 4.57 million viewers.
In fact, this season of The Walking Dead has seen the release of a handful of episodes which set new records for low ratings for the long-running show, which first aired back in October of 2010. As Cosmic Book News notes, the decline in ratings coincides with the recent departure of longtime actors Andrew Lincoln, who played lead character Rick Grimes, and Lauren Cohan, who portrayed Maggie Greene. Cohan has since gone on to land the main role in ABC’s Whiskey Cavalier, an action-focused comedy-drama which also stars Scott Foley.
Still, despite the decline in ratings, The Walking Dead still stands as the No. 1 rated (and most viewed) show on Sunday cable TV, beating out the NCAA basketball tournament games which air on other cable networks. AMC hasn’t lost faith in its flagship series, either, having already announced plans for another spin-off series and a movie trilogy which will star Andrew Lincoln.
The ninth season finale of The Walking Dead, titled “The Storm,” is set to air on March 31st. Don’t miss it.