The Walking Dead delivers all three of the top rated shows for the week.

There’s been a lot of discussion about The Walking Dead Season 7 ratings but the show continues to dominate the field for cable shows in live and DVR ratings.

The Walking Dead midseason premiere came in with 12 million live views. That’s a very strong number and up from the episodes in the first half of the season. The show was up against some pretty strong competition from the Grammys. But it still won the ratings for Sunday night in cable shows.

Additionally, The Walking Dead franchise occupied all three of the top ratings slots for the important 18-49 demographic. The midseason premiere “Rock In The Road” was the top rated cable show for the week with 12 million live views. Talking Dead was second. And The Walking Dead Marathon was third. In overall cable ratings The Walking Dead franchise shows were all in the top 10.

There’s been a lot of speculation that the tragic and graphic first half of the season had damaged the show. But, with an average of 16 million views per episode once +3 and +7 ratings were counted the first half of The Walking Dead season 7 did remarkably well in the ratings.

There’s no reason to think that won’t continue into the second half of the season. Fans are excited to see Rick and the survivors take on Negan and The Saviors. They want justice for Glenn and Abe. And they want to see Rick and the others once again at the top of their game.

Negan Is Not Killing The Show

Some groups that are critical of the new direction that the show is taking have wondered if the arrival of villain Negan is killing the show. Fans may not like Negan or his brutal ways. But the ratings have consistently increased each season and the ratings for this season are consistently high when all the views are counted.

There are many reasons why live views of the show on Sunday nights are down. More and more people are not watching live because they prefer to watch the show on DVR later on. Or they watch it online. That’s consistent with the rate of cable subscribers dropping around the country.

Throughout the first half of The Walking Dead season 7 each episode picked up an average of 4 million views each week in the Live+3 and Live+7 ratings. There’s no reason to think that the midseason premiere won’t also see that kind of gain.

If The Walking Dead midseason premiere ratings are consistent with the first half of the season the midseason premiere could come in with ratings that rival the season premiere. So don’t count out The Walking Dead yet. The show continues to be the most watched cable show on television.