We knew the season premiere ratings for The Walking Dead would be big, but nothing quite prepared us for this.
According to AMC, the Season 5 premiere delivered the highest ratings in series history, with 17.3 million viewers and 11 million adults in the 18-49 demographic. This figure, the network says, is expected to exceed 22 million viewers after time-shifted playback.
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That's an increase of 7% and 6%, respectively, from the Season 4 premiere, the previous record-holder.
“It’s a Dead man’s party. Who could ask for more?” said Charlie Collier, AMC president, via release.
And it's a party basically no one missed, it appears.
For comparison, the episode outperformed everything else on TV Sunday Night, including Sunday Night Football, in the 18-49.
For further context, last season of Game of Thrones averaged 18.6 million viewers across all platforms and repeats. And while it's common to see ratings spikes with premieres and finales, what The Walking Dead has done is impressive, no doubt about it.