Ratings for “Hearts Still Beating” Stay Consistent, “Sing Me A Song” Ratings Jump Dramatically

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene - The Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 8 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene - The Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 8 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC /
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The Walking Dead midseason finale brought in slightly higher live ratings while the ratings for “Sing Me A Song” jumped nearly 5 million in Live+3 views.

The Walking Dead wrapped up the first half of Season 7 with the hopeful “Hearts Still Beating” episode. As expected the episode drew just over 10.5 million live views. That is consistent with the past two episodes which have each drawn 10.4 million live views.

Critics of the show are quick to point out that the live ratings for this season have dropped to levels that haven’t been seen since Season 3. But the show isn’t losing fans even though live views are down.

Every episode in the first half of Season 7 has gained at least 3 million followers in the Live +3 ratings. The live views are hovering at around 11 million per episode. That jumps to an average of 14 million per episode after the Live+3 views are counted.

For any genre cable show to have a consistent audience of 14 million per episode in the 7th season is an extraordinary achievement. For The Walking Dead it’s par for the course. The show has always blown other genre shows away in the ratings. Even popular shows like Game of Thrones and American Horror Story don’t come close to matching The Walking Dead’s ratings.

Sing Me A Song” Live+3 Ratings Jump Dramatically

The Live+3 views for “Sing Me A Song” climbed by nearly 5 million views in the three days after the episode aired. When the episode aired on Sunday night it got 10.4 million live views. When the Live+3 views that include DVR views and streaming views were counted the number of views increased to 14.9 million.

Sing Me A Song” was one of the most anticipated episodes this season. Much of the episode was taken directly from the comic. It set up a complicated and dynamic relationship between Carl and Negan. It also gave fans a look inside Sanctuary and how Negan runs his community.

Boycott? What Boycott?

Earlier in the season some people complained bitterly and declared a boycott of the show. They were upset by the graphic deaths of Abe and Glenn as well as the new direction that the story is taking. But if people really did stop watching the numbers don’t reflect it.

More from Undead Walking

Even though some media sites are declaring the show is a now ratings disaster that’s not the case. Each episode this season show a consistent gain of 3-4 million in the Live +3 views. That’s good evidence that the show is still as popular as ever.

People are just watching it in different ways. Now millions more people are watching it on DVR or watching it online instead of watching it live on Sunday nights. But they’re still watching it every week.