The Walking Dead‘s recent seasons have struggled to pull in the kind of ratings it enjoyed during the peak of its popularity, but there’s life in the zombie show yet. Despite viewership slumps here and there, the AMC series was actually the most-watched cable drama of the 2019-2020 TV season.
The latest Nielsen ratings suggest that the show is still performing well after almost a decade on the air. Its 10th run averaged 5.4 million viewers and a 1.9 rating among adults aged between 18 and 49 during the current television season, and it came in 11th among all primetime shows tracked by the audience measurement firm.
AMC continues to invest heavily in the Walking Dead brand and took action to revitalize its flagship series when the ratings dip came to light. Angela Kang was appointed as showrunner for season 9 onwards and the show has been gradually ushering in a new status quo since protagonist Rick Grimes departed in the fifth episode of that run. Moreover, the network is expanding its Walking Dead universe with the development of a second spinoff show, World Beyond, and a Grimes-fronted movie.
Although cable TV is struggling to compete with streaming services, The Walking Dead‘s latest viewership feat is impressive for a show that’s been running for 10 seasons. What’s more, its average audience might’ve been even higher if the latest finale had been able to air as planned.
Episode 16 of season 10 was, of course, delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving fans with a huge cliffhanger to mull over as the Whisperers led a massive undead horde towards Alexandria. No doubt viewers will return in their droves when the episode finally airs. As things stand, AMC hasn’t offered a release date beyond “2020,” but we’ll let you know when that changes.
