Sunday night’s 90-minute series premiere of AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead made cable history!
Nielsen estimates that the network’s Walking Dead spinoff delivered to 10.1 million viewers and a strong 6.3 rating among adults 18-49 – making it the biggest series premiere in cable TV history in both total viewers and key demos. The previous record-holder was AMC’s Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul when it debuted earlier this year with 4.4 million viewers.
“Thank you and congratulations to (co-creators) Robert Kirkman (and) Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers and the entire cast and crew of Fear the Walking Dead,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC.
“It is increasingly difficult to evaluate a show’s success on night one. However, we are releasing these live/same day ratings because Fear the Walking Dead delivered record-breaking numbers that are all the more special in this era of time-shifted viewing and audience fragmentation. To have a companion series to the #1 show on television driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity and pop cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating. Of course none of it is possible without the fans, whose passion leads to these remarkable results.”
With a cast including Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane and Ruben Blades, the prequel tells the story of a Los Angeles family at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.
The Walking Dead series debuted to 5.4 million viewers back in 2010, with the most recent season premiering to a record 17.3 million viewers last fall. The zombie drama returns for season 6 on October 11th.
