Live viewing ratings up for The Walking Dead episode 809 ‘Honor’
By Sonya Iryna
The Walking Dead delivered the biggest death yet in Sunday’s midseason premiere and fans tuned in to say goodbye in large numbers.
Ratings for AMC’s The Walking Dead have been the source of contention in season 8. But, the show still occupies the top slot on cable TV and has seen consistent increases in extended viewing. That means that show is still as popular as ever, but people are changing the way they watch.
Overall fewer people are tuning in on Sunday nights to watch The Walking Dead and instead are watching it later in the week by streaming it or watching it on DVR. The Walking Dead midseason premiere had an increase as live views though as fans tuned in to say goodbye to Carl Grimes.
The Walking Dead posted live views of 8.2 million on Sunday night putting it once again at the top of the cable ratings for Sunday night. As usual Talking Dead came in second in live views with just over 3 million watching.
More from Undead Walking
- Walking Dead alum Jayson Warner Smith promotes new film, Chipper, watch it now
- Walking Dead actor Chandler Riggs filming new movie in Tampa Bay
- Why is there no season 12 of The Walking Dead?
- Will Morgan Jones find Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff?
- Watch Tales of TWD actress Jillian Bell in Prime Video’s Candy Cane Lane
By comparison, The Walking Dead midseason finale, “How It’s Gotta Be” had 7.8 million live viewers. But in extended viewing, the midseason finale jumped to 12.1 million views in just 7 days. The show has delivered consistent gains in extended viewing all season long so it’s a pretty good bet that extended views will show a big increase in the ratings for the midseason premiere “Honor”.
Still Number One
Some fans have been so upset by the death of Carl Grimes that they say they won’t watch the show anymore. But the show has a big enough fanbase that the death of an original, while always tough, probably won’t be enough to push it out of the top spot on cable.
Since the show debuted it has consistently been the number one scripted drama on cable and there are no signs of that changing. Ratings are lower for cable TV shows across the board due to many factors including the dramatic drop in cable TV subscriptions and the number of fans who choose to watch via streaming platforms instead of on cable.
Next: Top 10 Carl moments from The Walking Dead
So don’t let the clamor from click bait outlets about the show’s dropping ratings confuse you. The Walking Dead is still the number one show on cable by a huge margin and there are no signs that will change as season 8 wraps up. The Walking Dead has been renewed for season 9 and filming for season 9 starts in a couple of months with new showrunner Angela Kang.