Last night, AMC's mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead became the strongest telecast for any drama in basic cable history against key demos including 5.4 million adults 18-49 and 4.4 million adults 25-54. These results shatter the previous record, which was held by the season two premiere from October 16th with increases of +12% and +6% respectively.
The show delivered 8.1 million viewers for its 9 PM premiere and delivered 10.1 million viewers for the night (9 PM premiere and 11 PM and 12:30 AM encores). At 10 PM, AMC also premiered its newest unscripted series, Comic Book Men, executive produced by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy), Charlie Corwin's Original Media (LA Ink, Storm Chasers, Swamp People) and Elyse Seiden (Red State). The series delivered 2 million total viewers.
"It is a great night for AMC. We're thrilled to see this incredible record breaking response to The Walking Dead and Comic Book Men is off to a strong start as well. Congratulations to the teams behind both of these shows," said Charlie Collier, AMC's president.
Following are the Key Nielsen Highlights:
Mid-season two premiere The Walking Dead:
- 9 PM airing - 5.2 HH rating with 8.1 million viewers
- 9 PM airing - Adults 18-49 delivered 5.4 million viewers
- 9 PM airing - Adults 25-54 delivered 4.4 million viewers
- 9 PM, 11 PM and 12:30 AM airings - 10.1 million viewers
The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Glen Mazzara serves as series' showrunner and executive producer. Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert and Frank Darabont are executive producers with Greg Nicotero as co-executive producer. Season two of the critically acclaimed global hit series continues to deliver the strongest telecasts for any drama in basic cable history against Adults 18-49, as well as, top international pay-TV ratings on Fox International Channels' (FIC) major markets.
At 10pm, the network premiered its newest unscripted series Comic Book Men.
Premiere of Comic Book Men
- 10 PM airing - 1.3 HH rating with 2 million viewers
- 10 PM airing - Adults 18-49 delivered 1.3 million viewers
- 10 PM airing - Adults 25-54 delivered 1.1 million viewers
Executive produced by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy), Charlie Corwin's Original Media (LA Ink, Storm Chasers, Swamp People) and Elyse Seiden (Red State), the six-part series dives deep into fanboy culture by following the antics in and around master fanboy Kevin Smith's New Jersey comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, where both staff and customers geek out over mind-blowing pop culture artifacts and the legends behind them.
Leading the crew behind the Secret Stash counter are moody manager Walt, uber-nerd Mike, career slacker Brian, and Ming, the shop's go-to whipping boy. As the team buys, sells and discovers the treasures of the comic collecting world, they share all the juicy details with Kevin through their outrageous podcast, which is woven throughout the series.