Cebu_4_2
14th October 2013, 03:44 PM
‘Walking Dead’ Premiere Is Highest Rated Show of TV Season
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/10/15/business/15walking/15walking-articleLarge.jpg Gene Page/AMC
A scene from the premiere of "Walking Dead" that drew more that 16 million viewers Sunday night.
By BILL CARTER (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/bill_carter/index.html)
“The Walking Dead” is officially devouring the rest of television.
The horror drama on AMC shattered its own ratings records for cable programs on Sunday night, with the premiere of its fourth season. At the same time, it surpassed everything else that has been on television this season so far in its appeal to the viewers sought by most advertisers, those between the ages of 18 and 49.
The premiere was seen by 16.1 million viewers, far surpassing the show’s previous record for cable entertainment programs, which was 12.4 million viewers. (By contrast the finale of “Breaking Bad” reached 10.3 million.) “Dead” attracted 10.4 million viewers in that 18-to-49 group — an enormous total even surpassing any N.F.L. game this season.
To illustrate the supremacy “Walking Dead” has achieved, its rating in the 18-to-49 category was an 8.2. The top score by any other entertainment show this season came during the first night of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS, when the special episode at 8:30 p.m. reached a 6.1 rating in the 18-to-49 group.
“Walking Dead” managed this despite the presence Sunday night of two potent sports attractions, NBC’s regular “Sunday Night Football” game and a thrilling postseason baseball game between the Tigers and the Red Sox.
Even the show’s talk-show companion series, “Talking Dead,” posted numbers most networks would covet: 5.1 million viewers and a 2.6 rating in the 18-to-49 category.
Before Sunday night, every top-rated show this season had been an N.F.L. game. Now zombies are apparently more appealing than quarterbacks.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/10/15/business/15walking/15walking-articleLarge.jpg Gene Page/AMC
A scene from the premiere of "Walking Dead" that drew more that 16 million viewers Sunday night.
By BILL CARTER (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/bill_carter/index.html)
“The Walking Dead” is officially devouring the rest of television.
The horror drama on AMC shattered its own ratings records for cable programs on Sunday night, with the premiere of its fourth season. At the same time, it surpassed everything else that has been on television this season so far in its appeal to the viewers sought by most advertisers, those between the ages of 18 and 49.
The premiere was seen by 16.1 million viewers, far surpassing the show’s previous record for cable entertainment programs, which was 12.4 million viewers. (By contrast the finale of “Breaking Bad” reached 10.3 million.) “Dead” attracted 10.4 million viewers in that 18-to-49 group — an enormous total even surpassing any N.F.L. game this season.
To illustrate the supremacy “Walking Dead” has achieved, its rating in the 18-to-49 category was an 8.2. The top score by any other entertainment show this season came during the first night of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS, when the special episode at 8:30 p.m. reached a 6.1 rating in the 18-to-49 group.
“Walking Dead” managed this despite the presence Sunday night of two potent sports attractions, NBC’s regular “Sunday Night Football” game and a thrilling postseason baseball game between the Tigers and the Red Sox.
Even the show’s talk-show companion series, “Talking Dead,” posted numbers most networks would covet: 5.1 million viewers and a 2.6 rating in the 18-to-49 category.
Before Sunday night, every top-rated show this season had been an N.F.L. game. Now zombies are apparently more appealing than quarterbacks.