The Walking Dead’s Ratings Fall to Lowest Mark in Series History

The latest ratings numbers are in for The Walking Dead and it’s not looking so great for the long-running AMC series. Despite a relatively solid episode that touched upon themes of trauma and abuse, not to mention a chilling end sequence that sets up quite the complicated situation for the next episode, the current season is just not captivating viewers the way it used to as only 4.54 million viewers tuned in, amounting to a meager 1.7 rating for its key 18-49 demographic. The previous lowest mark for the series was Season 1’s second episode, which netted 4.71 million viewers.

While streaming and DVR viewing certainly play a factor (guilty as charged here), there is no doubt that cast departures such as Andrew Lincoln, Lauren Cohan, and Chandler Riggs are to blame as well. Furthermore, reports that Michonne actress Danai Gurira is also on her way out certainly can’t help matters as the series looks to battle the typical viewership fatigue that comes with a show that has been on the air for so many years. On top of that, it’s difficult to remain invested when so many central cast members decide to move on around the same time.

The current story arc is quickly moving towards some of the more excellent material from Robert Kirkman’s comic series, but some of the high stakes certainly feel blunted in light of major characters regularly being written out of the show due to contract expirations. However, the current season of the TV adaptation has certainly found some solid footing by taking a more horror-oriented approach with the Whisperers, which has proven to be quite effective from a narrative point of view. Whether this will eventually translate to better viewership, however, remains to be seen.

The Walking Dead continues its ninth season Sunday nights on AMC.

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

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