The Walking Dead Ratings Drop to Lowest Mark Ahead of Midseason Finale

Although The Walking Dead made it through the exit of Andrew Lincoln relatively unscathed, the viewership numbers failed to hold up this week as the show heads towards its midseason finale. In the upcoming episode, we are likely to receive our first formal introduction to The Whisperers, a villainous group from the comic series that wears walker skin to blend in and travel with the herds.

The seventh episode of the series' ninth season, titled "Stradivarius," was directed by Michael Cudlitz, who previously played Abraham on the show. It garnered a fairly positive reception but the viewership numbers unfortunately continued the decline the show faced earlier in the season.

Only 4.79 million viewers tuned in this week, a new low for the series as a whole when it comes to live numbers in the United States, with a 1.8 rating in its key adults 18-49 demographic. This puts the numbers back on the decline after the fairly successful exit of Rick Grimes kept the ratings steady.

Interestingly enough, the episodes following the Lincoln's departure have been among the better ones in terms of critical reception, carefully introducing us to the next major threat the story's characters will face off against. We suspect viewers not quite familiar with what's going on with the "talking zombies" may be drawn back in if the upcoming episode has anything to say about it.

Tune in this Sunday at the usual time on AMC for the midseason finale of The Walking Dead.

About the Author

Chris Morse

Programmer by day, writer by night. Having grown up surrounded by plenty of horror movies and video games, it only made sense for Chris to combine all of these passions into one place: Dead Entertainment. Whether he's working on designs, tinkering with the platform, or just writing up the latest horror news, he's sure to be hard at work keeping the wheels turning on this website no matter what time of day it is. When not coding or gaming, you can find him donning a Cheesehead and heading to the Midwest to cheer on his favorite NFL team, the Green Bay Packers. #GoPackGo

More Reading

Weekly Horror News Round-Up November 7: The Walking Dead, Friday the 13th: The Game, Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Plus, Hulu pulls the plug on Castle Rock, the Resident Evil film reboot adds to its cast, Demon's Souls get a fancy character creator, and more.

Weekly Horror News Round-Up October 17: Friday the 13th, The Walking Dead, Day of the Dead

Plus, I Know What You Did Last Summer gets the green light, You adds to its Season 3 cast, and more.

Weekly Horror News Round-Up September 12: The Walking Dead, Candyman, Books of Blood

Plus, Scream 5 adds to its cast, get Freaky in a new trailer from Blumhouse, the original Friday the 13th is remastered to return to theaters, and more.

The Walking Dead Ending is the Most Exciting Thing About the Show Since It Began

Amidst cast and character attrition, AMC has made the smart move in opting to gracefully end the flagship show at a time that will make sense to the story.