2.5 MILLION WATCH “HELL ON WHEELS” DRIVE ITS LAST SPIKE
Western Drama Concludes After Five Seasons, Series Attracted Millions Of Viewers Each Week And Successfully Established Saturday As A New Night For Originals On AMC
NEW YORK, NY – July 29, 2016 – “Hell on Wheels” concluded its five-season run on AMC last Saturday with a series finale episode that attracted 2.5 million total viewers, including 784k adults 25-54, in Nielsen live+3 ratings. The series, focused on the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, established and grew a passionate audience and successfully opened up Saturday night as a new destination for original programming on AMC, capitalizing on the network’s tradition of showing classic Western television shows and films on Saturday for many years.
The series was written to conclusion under the direction of showrunner John Wirth, who will now serve as showrunner on the SundanceTV original Hap & Leonard, which is beginning production of its second season.
“We are profoundly grateful for all that John Wirth, Anson Mount and the rest of the producers, cast and crew on ‘Hell on Wheels’ have delivered, including, of course, five seasons of terrific television that drove a new night of scripted original programming for AMC,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “The series gave fans of Westerns on our network exactly what we hoped it would, a high-quality original Western series to complement the deep library of genre films fans love on AMC all Saturday long. ‘Hell on Wheels’ was consistently a top program on cable among adults 25-54 in its timeslot, and we look forward to building on the strong genre foundation it has provided AMC. From Wirth to Zhou, please note the list of terrific contributors below. They’ve been working on the railroad all the live-long day and we’re so proud of their many accomplishments.”
Season five of “Hell on Wheels” averaged 2.6 million viewers per episode, including 837k adults 25-54 in Nielsen lie+3 ratings.
The last seven episodes of “Hell on Wheels” showed the end of the line for Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) and his work building America’s first transcontinental railroad. The final push to finish brought a reckoning for Bohannon and the men standing in his path: the bloodthirsty Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl); the mercenary Chang (Byron Mann); and the rapacious Thomas Durant (Colm Meaney). Bohannon faced corruption, greed and murder on the trek to complete the final stages of the building of the railroad.
“Hell on Wheels” is executive produced by showrunner John Wirth (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Falling Skies,” “The Cape”); Paul Kurta (“Veronica Mars,” Empire Records); Michael Rosenberg (“Hung”); Jeremy Gold, EVP, Endemol Shine Studios; and Mike Frislev and Chad Oakes from Nomadic Pictures. Entertainment One Television’s (eOne) Debra Curtis, SVP Current Programming, and David Shafer, VP Production, oversee production in partnership with producers. eOne is the worldwide distributor and licensed television rights in Europe to Endemol Shine. In addition to Mount, Heyerdahl, Mann and Meaney, “Hell on Wheels” stars Robin McLeavy, Phil Burke, Jennifer Ferrin, Dohn Norwood, Tim Guinee, Reg Rogers and Angela Zhou.
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About AMC
AMC is home to some of the most popular and acclaimed programs on television. AMC was the first basic cable network to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series with “Mad Men” in 2008, which then went on to win the coveted award four years in a row, before “Breaking Bad” won it in 2013 and 2014. The network’s series “The Walking Dead” is the highest-rated series in cable history and the number one show on television among adults 18-49 for the last four years. AMC’s other current original drama series include “Better Call Saul,” “Hell on Wheels,” “TURN: Washington’s Spies,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” “Humans,” “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Into the Badlands,” “The Night Manager,” “Preacher,” “Feed the Beast,” and forthcoming series “The Son” and “The Terror.” AMC also explores authentic worlds and discussion with original shows like “Talking Dead,” “The Making of the Mob,” “Comic Book Men” “Ride with Norman Reedus,” “The American West” and “Geeking Out.” AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, SundanceTV, BBC America and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.
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