At this point, it almost seems like punching down to talk about the falling ratings of The Walking Dead. Stories about its flagging fortunes are common — you just have to look at this graph to see its meteoric rise and its slow sad fall. We’re a long way from its dizzying ratings peak around seasons 4-6.
And indeed, the newest episode — “Lines We Cross,” the season 10 premiere — saw a precipitous drop in viewership, with 4.15 million viewers tuning in, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That’s down 34 percent from the season 9 premiere, and the lowest same-day viewership for the show in its history — and that’s including the early seasons before the show caught on.
And yet, this only feels like punching down, because really, 4.15 million viewers is still a lot of viewers. Even with its ratings falling, The Walking Dead is still far ahead of any other series on ad-supported cable save sports and news show. And clearly AMC thinks it’s worth continuing; the series has already been renewed for an 11th season, there’s a new spinoff on the way, and the CEO of the network has basically said he wants the base show to go on forever. Despite appearances, which include losing key cast members like Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) and Danai Gurira (Michonne, who will be leaving sometime this year), The Walking Dead is doing just fine.
And it’s not the only returning show taking a ratings hit. Shows like This Is Us, The Good Doctor and Young Sheldon all suffered through comparable drops with their premieres, which may have more to do with the ad-supported TV format that anything else. People have more ways to watch the episodes than ever before — for example, AMC let people who signed up for its AMC Premiere subscription service (yes, of course it has one) watch “Lines We Cross” a week early. And THR reports that, for The Walking Dead season 9, viewership rose by 48 percent after three days of delayed viewing and 59 percent after seven days. Season 10 could follow suit or even beat those numbers.
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Basically, looking at same-day ratings doesn’t tell you the whole story, not in the way it used to. Critically, “Lines We Cross” has been a hit. And although it’s hemorrhaging major cast members, at least one is coming back. The Walking Dead can sometimes look like it’s shambling along aimlessly, but maybe its walking in the right direction.
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