“The Walking Dead” Ratings Are Dying Down

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” premiered its ninth season this past Sunday, October 7. Despite the strong show of support for the series garnered at the recent New York Comic Con, the premiere only garnered viewership of about 6.1 million. That might sound like a lot, but bear in mind that the season 8 premier had viewership of over 11 million, 47% more than season 9.

In fact, all previous seasons of “The Walking Dead” brought in higher ratings, save for the very first season premier, which brought in 5.35 million viewers.

“The Walking Dead’s” viewership has been declining since season 7. This is in part, however, to the rise of streaming services over the last decade. While many viewers are no longer tuning in to AMC to watch premiers live, they are still watching on On Demand services and apps like Netflix.

Due to this, it is difficult to obtain accurate numbers for how many people are actually watching the show. AMC does not appear worried about the ratings, content to produce the show as long as it is being watched in some capacity.