Final Episode Up 300% Over Last Year’s Breaking Bad Finale Among
Adults 18-49, Capping a Historic Run on AMC
Expanded One-Hour Edition of Talking Bad Delivers 4.4 Million
Viewers, 2.9 Million Adults 18-49
New York, NY – Sept. 30, 2013 –AMC’s Breaking Bad capped its historic run last night, delivering a series-record 10.3 million viewers, including 6.7 million adults 18-49. Ratings for the final episode were up 300% over last year’s finale, demonstrating the remarkable growth of this iconic series. An expanded one-hour Talking Bad aftershow delivered 4.4 million viewers, including 2.9 million adults 18-49.
“Breaking Bad is simply unique,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “It all starts with Vince Gilligan who really only ever asked for one thing – the opportunity to end the show on his own terms. That is exactly what Vince did last night and, as always, brilliantly so. Congratulations to Vince and to every single person involved in this remarkable journey. We’re proud that AMC will forever be known as the birthplace and home of this iconic show and, at the same time, we tip our Heisenberg hat to the fans who made this a truly shared experience.”
Key Nielsen Highlights for the Breaking Bad series finale
- 9 pm airing – 6.5 HH rating with 10.3 million viewers
- 9 pm airing – 6.7 million Adults 18-49
- 9 pm airing – 5.6 million Adults 25-54
Key Nielsen Highlights for the Talking Bad finale
- 10:15 pm airing – 2.9 HH rating with 4.4 million viewers
- 10:15 pm airing – 2.9 million Adults 18-49
- 10:15 pm airing – 2.4 million Adults 25-54
Source: Nielsen Media Research fast nationals, L+SD 9/29/13.
The Breaking Bad series finale set new records for the show on Twitter, with 1.24 million Tweets from 601,370 unique users during the live broadcast window of both the EST and PST telecasts. The show hit a peak of 22,373 Tweets-per-minute just as the final episode began in the East, and a Bryan Cranston Tweet, “Well, this is it… Thank you for sharing this ride with me…” has generated more than 51,000 Retweets and nearly 34,000 Favorites so far. Over the course of the night, Worldwide and United States trending topics on Twitter related to the show included #GoodbyeBreakingBad, #AMC, #BreakingBad, #BreakingBadFinale, #Heisenberg, #HelloGretchen and #GoodbyeLydia.
From acclaimed writer, producer, director Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad is produced by Sony Pictures Television with Mark Johnson (Gran Via) and Michelle MacLaren serving as executive producers. Breaking Bad first premiered on AMC in January 2008 and follows protagonist Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a milquetoast high school chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife, teenage son who has cerebral palsy and a new baby girl. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live. With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to gain financial security for his family, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world. The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White’s releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild-mannered family man to a kingpin of the drug trade.
Breaking Bad has garnered ten Emmy® Award wins – including the 2013 Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series – and a Peabody, and been named to the American Film Institute’s (AFI) list of the “Top 10 Programs of the Year” (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012). The explosive series that The Hollywood Reporter called “one of the greatest dramas in TV history,” returned to AMC for the first of its final eight episodes on August 11, 2013 with 5.9 million viewers, up 102 percent over its season five premiere on July 15, 2012. Breaking Bad stars three-time Emmy® Award-winner Bryan Cranston; two-time Emmy® winner Aaron Paul; Emmy® Award-winner Anna Gunn; Dean Norris; Betsy Brandt; RJ Mitte and Bob Odenkirk.
Talking Bad is a weekly, half-hour live after-show and companion piece for its Emmy® Award-winning series, Breaking Bad. Hosted by Chris Hardwick, the series analyzes and examines every detail of Breaking Bad’s final eight episodes. Talking Bad features Hardwick spending time with fans, actors, producers and tv enthusiasts, recapping that most recent Breaking Bad episode, and taking questions and comments from viewers. Fans may continue to engage with the after-show following the on-air conclusion, online, at amc.com for more videos, weekly polls and photo galleries of the guests featured on the series. The series is produced by Michael Davies’ Embassy Row with Sony Pictures Television serving as the studio partner.
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About AMC
Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, AMC brings to its audience something deeper, something richer, Something More. The network reigns as the only cable network in history ever to win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, and boasts the most-watched drama series in basic cable history with The Walking Dead. AMC’s original drama series include Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels and Low Winter Sun. The network recently greenlit two new drama series, working titles Halt & Catch Fire and Turn, both of which will be premiering in 2014. AMC also explores authentic worlds with bold characters through its slate of unscripted original series like Comic Book Men, Small Town Security, Talking Dead, Talking Bad and Freakshow. AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Something More.
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