'Walking Dead' Drops to Lowest Ratings Since Season 1
"The Walking Dead" just can't catch a break.
This past Sunday's episode of the AMC zombie apocalypse series, the tenth episode of the show's eighth season, drew a 2.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.8 million viewers in the Nielsen Live+Same Day numbers. That is the lowest rating in the key demographic that the show has put up since its first season back in 2010. The last time "The Walking Dead," which is the top-rated show on television, drew less than a 3.0 rating was the Season 1 episode "Wildfire," which drew a 2.8. The last time the show drew less than 7 million viewers was the second season episode "Better Angels," which averaged 6.9 million.
This week's episode was also down around 20 percent in both measures compared to last week's midseason premiere, one of the steeper drop offs the show has seen between a midseason premiere and a subsequent episode to date. As Variety reported last week, the Season 8 midseason premiere was the lowest-rated midseason premiere in series history, putting up a 3.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 8.3 million viewers.
Previously, the Season 8 midseason finale was the show's lowest-rated since Season 2. The Season 8 premiere was also the show's lowest-rated since its third season, despite the fact that the Season 8 opener was also the show's 100th episode.
Again, it bears repeating that "The Walking Dead" was still the top-rated and most-watched cable show of the night by far and faced stiff competition from the Academy Awards on ABC, which also saw new ratings lows.