SEASON EIGHT PREMIERE DELIVERS 15 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS, 9.3 MILLION ADULTS 25-54 AND 8.8 MILLION ADULTS 18-49 IN NIELSEN LIVE+3 RATINGS
TWO-HOUR “TALKING DEAD” LIVE FROM THE GREEK THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES FEATURING CHRIS HARDWICK AND DOZENS OF CURRENT AND FORMER CAST MEMBERS DELIVERS 5 MILLION VIEWERS
NEW YORK, NY, October 27, 2017 – AMC’s “The Walking Dead” returned for its 100th episode and season eight premiere Sunday night as the #1 show on television for an unprecedented sixth consecutive season, delivering 15 million total viewers, 9.3 million adults 25-54 and 8.8 million adults 18-49 in Nielsen live+3 ratings. The two-hour special episode of “Talking Dead,” conducted live in front of 6,000 fans at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, delivered 5 million total viewers, 2.9 million adults 25-54 and 2.7 million adults 18-49 in Nielsen live+3 ratings.
The season premiere of “The Walking Dead” now ranks as the top telecast this broadcast season among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. “The Walking Dead” continues to significantly out-deliver top shows on fully-distributed broadcast networks like “The Big Bang Theory” and “This is Us.”
Program Rankers
A25-54 (000)
| Network | Program | L+3 A25-54 (000) | TWD Advantage % |
| AMC | WALKING DEAD | 9,288 | — |
| CBS | YOUNG SHELDON | 8,617 | 8% |
| NBC | NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | 8,179 | 14% |
| CBS | BIG BANG THEORY, THE | 7,600 | 22% |
| NBC | THIS IS US | 7,147 | 30% |
| CBS | CBS+NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL | 6,683 | 39% |
| NBC | SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK | 5,866 | 58% |
| ABC | GOOD DOCTOR, THE | 5,472 | 70% |
| ESPN | NFL REGULAR SEASON L | 5,436 | 71% |
| NBC | WILL & GRACE | 5,417 | 71% |
A18-49 (000)
| Network | Program | L+3 A18-49 (000) | TWD Advantage % |
| AMC | WALKING DEAD | 8,815 | — |
| NBC | NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | 7,671 | 15% |
| CBS | YOUNG SHELDON | 6,682 | 32% |
| NBC | THIS IS US | 6,210 | 42% |
| CBS | CBS+NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL | 6,111 | 44% |
| CBS | BIG BANG THEORY, THE | 5,790 | 52% |
| NBC | SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK | 5,444 | 62% |
| ESPN | NFL REGULAR SEASON L | 5,208 | 69% |
| ABC | GOOD DOCTOR, THE | 4,718 | 87% |
| NBC | WILL & GRACE | 4,398 | 100% |
“There are only a precious few television programs that can deliver urgent viewing and large, diverse audiences. One hundred episodes after Rick first met Morgan, ‘The Walking Dead’ continues to do both.” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Thank you to the engaged fans around the globe and to Robert Kirkman, Scott M. Gimple, Chris Hardwick and a ton of other walkers, talkers and content hawkers that make it all possible. To our friends, fans and the entire #TWDFamily, welcome to the Century Club.”
In addition to the linear viewing, “The Walking Dead” season 8 premiere yielded more than 1.4 million views across all AMC digital platforms and Xfinity during the premiere and subsequent three days, nearly doubling the digital audience of the season seven finale, and increasing 60% compared to the premiere of the second half of season seven in April.
“The Walking Dead” season eight premiere was also a major event on social media, and continues to dominate as the # 1 most social series for the 2017/2018 season-to-date.1.5 million people generated 2.5 million social media interactions across Facebook and Twitter on premiere day. A special livestream of the red carpet arrivals at the premiere event, carried on social platforms including Facebook Live, Twitter and Xbox generated nearly 7.2 million views across all platforms.
Key Nielsen Highlights for the premiere of “The Walking Dead” (L+3)
Episode 801, 9 p.m., Sunday, October 22
15 million viewers, up 31% from live/same day (growth of 3.6 million)
8.8 million Adults 18-49, up 36% from live/same day (growth of 2.3 million)
9.3 million Adults 25-54, up 36% from live/same day (growth of 2.5 million)
Key Nielsen Highlights for the premiere of “Talking Dead” (L+3)
Episode 801, 10:07 p.m. (Two Hour Live Special) Sunday, October 22
5 million viewers, up 18% from live/same day (growth of 746k)
2.7 million Adults 18-49, up 17% from live/same day (growth of 395k)
2.9 million Adults 25-54, up 19% from live/same day (growth of 462k)
Source: Nielsen National NPM Live+3 #1 Series 6 seasons in a row- 9/25/17-10/22/17, 9/19/16-9/24/17, 9/21/15-9/18/16, 9/22/14-9/20/15, 9/23/13-9/21/14; TWD PREM Trackage Su 9p vs Broadcast and Cable (M-Su 8p11p (Start)), excl sports, specials, repeats, gapped, breakouts, sustainers. A18-49 (000)
#1 Telecast Rank: Nielsen, 2017-2018 Broadcast Season To-Date (9/25/17-10/22/17), Broadcast and Cable (M-Su 8p11p (Start)), Live+3 A18-49 (000) and A25-54 (000); excluding repeats, specials, gapped programs, breakouts, sustainers
Program Ranks: Nielsen, 2017-2018 Broadcast Season To-Date (9/25/17-10/22/17), Broadcast and Cable (M-Su 8p11p (Start)), Live+3 A18-49 (000) and A25-54 (000); Program Ranker on both demos excluding repeats, specials, gapped programs, breakouts, sustainers. Note: Walking Dead reflects Premiere trackage only.
Digital and social: Google Analytics/Xfinity CPP, Live+3 Dates: 10/22-10/25/17, platforms include AMC.com, Mobile App, AMC OTT Apps, and Xfinity Web/App. Nielsen Social Content Ratings, Date: 9/25/17 – 10/22/17, ranked on total interactions.
An AMC Studios production, “The Walking Dead” is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, and Tom Luse.
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 six years. AMC’s other current original drama series include “Better Call Saul,” “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Into the Badlands,” “Preacher,” “The Son,” “The Night Manager,” “Humans,” and the forthcoming “Dietland,” “The Terror,” “Lodge 49,” and “McMafia.” AMC also explores authentic worlds and discussion with original shows like “Talking Dead,” “Talking With Chris Hardwick,” “Comic Book Men,” “Ride with Norman Reedus” and its “Visionaries” series. 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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