Since 2016 and its botched debut of Negan at the end of season six, ratings for The Walking Dead—once the most popular series on TV—steadily dropped into the toilet. That, along with the end of Fear the Walking Dead announced less than two months after the flagship series’ poorly received finale, led many to think that viewers were done with the franchise, despite AMC’s attempt to spin off more series. It seems the network might have been right after all.
The Hollywood Reporter says the premiere of The Walking Dead: Dead City, in which Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) travel to New York City to find her kidnapped son, was a ratings hit for AMC and its streaming service AMC+: “The series… debuted with 683,000 viewers on AMC. Simulcasts on BBC America and IFC and a couple of replays pushed the first-night, on-air total to 1.12 million viewers. The premiere also gathered 283,000 viewers in AMC’s core demographic of adults 25-54 (and 449,000 including the other airings), also best among drama series debuts on cable this year.”
Just to put things in perspective here, Dead City beat out the broadcast debuts of Interview With the Vampire and The Mayfair Witches, and became the most-watched series premiere on AMC+ ever. Additionally, THR says the show also drove the most subscribers to the streaming service to date, which is impressive on its own.
I’m one of the many who thought people were completely over TWD in all its forms—although admittedly I may have let my personal experiences color my opinion—so I’m surprised people tuned in for a series that only features two of the main show’s characters. On the other hand, Dead City stars two of the four TWD characters fans actually gave a damn about, as opposed to the sprawling cast of unlikable numbskulls who populated The Walking Dead, so maybe I shouldn’t be. Also, it might help that Dead City is a focused, six-episode miniseries that takes place in an entirely new environment as opposed to TWD’s, well, shambling corpse that refused to die for far too long.
Given that fans cared more about Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) than anybody, now I’m betting his self-titled series will beat Dead City when it premieres later this year. If so, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more walking for the dead to do.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Since 2016 and its botched debut of Negan at the end of season six, ratings for The Walking Dead—once the most popular series on TV—steadily dropped into the toilet. That, along with the end of Fear the Walking Dead announced less than two months after the flagship series’ poorly received finale, led many to think that viewers were done with the franchise, despite AMC’s attempt to spin off more series. It seems the network might have been right after all.
The Hollywood Reporter says the premiere of The Walking Dead: Dead City, in which Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) travel to New York City to find her kidnapped son, was a ratings hit for AMC and its streaming service AMC+: “The series… debuted with 683,000 viewers on AMC. Simulcasts on BBC America and IFC and a couple of replays pushed the first-night, on-air total to 1.12 million viewers. The premiere also gathered 283,000 viewers in AMC’s core demographic of adults 25-54 (and 449,000 including the other airings), also best among drama series debuts on cable this year.”
Just to put things in perspective here, Dead City beat out the broadcast debuts of Interview With the Vampire and The Mayfair Witches, and became the most-watched series premiere on AMC+ ever. Additionally, THR says the show also drove the most subscribers to the streaming service to date, which is impressive on its own.
I’m one of the many who thought people were completely over TWD in all its forms—although admittedly I may have let my personal experiences color my opinion—so I’m surprised people tuned in for a series that only features two of the main show’s characters. On the other hand, Dead City stars two of the four TWD characters fans actually gave a damn about, as opposed to the sprawling cast of unlikable numbskulls who populated The Walking Dead, so maybe I shouldn’t be. Also, it might help that Dead City is a focused, six-episode miniseries that takes place in an entirely new environment as opposed to TWD’s, well, shambling corpse that refused to die for far too long.
Given that fans cared more about Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) than anybody, now I’m betting his self-titled series will beat Dead City when it premieres later this year. If so, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more walking for the dead to do.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.