The Walking Dead is once again the top-rated scripted series on cable

The Walking Dead has had its share of ups and downs during its 10-season run so far, and the latest season could have been the most divisive of all, seeing as it was the first full season to air after star Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) left the show in season 9.

Many fans have been expecting the show to start winding down, especially since we’re fast approaching the anticipated Commonwealth storyline, which is the final major story arc in Robert Kirkman’s source comics. But it seems there’s still life in the show. It’s no secret that ratings for The Walking Dead have gone down since their peak around seasons 4 and 5, but it remains the most-watched scripted show on cable television, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

Factoring in a week of delayed viewing, The Walking Dead season 10 averaged 5.4 million viewers per episode, with a 1.9 rating among viewers 18-49. That makes The Walking Dead the 11th most watched show among all primetime shows measured by Neilsen, and again, first among scripted cable shows. The Walking Dead has being doing well critically, too, with plenty of glowing reviews for season 10 have been glowing. For contrast, season 9 brought in an average of 4.95 million viewers.

Admittedly, these are pretty small numbers considering what the show used to pull. Back in season 5, the drama averaged 14.38 million U.S. viewers, peaking at 17.3 million viewers for the season premiere, “No Sanctuary.”

Other notable cable shows include AMC’s Better Call Saul (ranking fourth) and BBC America’s Killing Eve (ranking fifteenth). Another surprise performer that attracted an average of 9 million viewers per episode was HBO’s adaptation of the Stephen King story, The Outsider. In fact, The Outsider pulled in the biggest ratings for a first-year show since Westworld aired back in 2016!

Of course, The Walking Dead hasn’t yet aired its season 10 finale after it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. When it eventually airs, it could boost ratings even further. The cast and crew haven’t been shy about hyping it up.

Most recently, director Greg Nicotero teased that something big will go down in that final episode. “Where we left everyone, Beta and the horde were surrounding the tower. And the finale picks up right where we left off – our group is now having to deal with this giant massive [horde of] thousands of zombies surrounding where they’re safe,” he told FANDOM. “There are a lot of character storylines that are [wrapped up]. You get little bits of information here, here, and here. You want [to] end that chapter and start the next chapter in the finale. We address lots of stuff with Daryl, we address lots of stuff with Negan, we address lots of stuff with Beta, we address lots of stuff with Carol.”

"I think it’s already been revealed that Maggie’s return is in the finale, and it tees us up so well for Season 11 that it’s a little agonizing for me to not be able to talk about it. Because the last two minutes of the finale, people’s jaws are gonna drop."

There’s still no word on a release date for the finale. We’re just going to have to be patient for the time being. It’s set for release as a special episode on AMC later this year.

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