Today, in this-ain't-your-Granpappy's-TV-news: A cable series is now the most watched show on TV. The premiere episode for the third season of AMC's "The Walking Dead" broke ratings records for the network with nearly 11 million viewers. And apparently, audiences were hungrier than a walker on a lunch break for more. Episode two, "Sick," which ran on Sunday Oct. 21, pulled in another 9.5 million fans, topping all non-sports programs for the week, and cementing "The Walking Dead" as the hottest TV series for the coveted 18-49 demographic so far this fall.
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With DISH Network now once again carrying AMC, there are 14 million more users who can now watch "The Walking Dead." AMC airs a new episode of the series three times on Sunday night. The Nielsen ratings company says a total of 14 million people watched at least one of them this week.
In comparison, the most-watched drama on broadcast TV last week was "Person of Interest" on CBS. It had just under 14 million viewers, and even more dominant among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, which advertisers crave.
As Deadline notes, the domination of comic-book-turned-TV-show is part of a larger trend of genre favorite cable shows beating out broadcast TV rivals. FX's biker drama "Sons Of Anarchy" won the Tuesday 10 p.m. time slot in 18-49 twice in a row, beating its broadcast rivals, while the cable network's horror series "American Horror Story" launched last week and was a close second in the Wednesday 10 p.m. slot among the 18-49 set.
The premiere episode of season three of "The Walking Dead" was up more than 50 percent from season two, receiving a rating of 5.8 for adults in the 18-49 demographic. The only broadcast entertainment show even close to that this fall was ABC's "Modern Family" season premiere, which pulled a 5.5 - and that's on network TV. AMC is at a severe disadvantage as it's only available in a fraction of U.S. homes, and had been dropped by DISH Network prior to the third season premiere of "The Walking Dead."
DISH Network has since settled its dispute with AMC, and once again carries the channel and "The Walking Dead." According to CNN, DISH paid Cablevision and AMC $700 million to settle the suit, and also agreed to give up its 20 percent stake in Voom HD.
Based off the monthly black-and-white comic book series written by creator Kirkman, "The Walking Dead" follows a gang of lost souls just trying to survive day-to-day life in a post-apocalyptic U.S. overrun with the living dead. The first two seasons of the AMC series were hugely-successful. The season two premiere broke cable ratings records in the 18-49 demographic as well. But the season three premiere shattered everyone's expectations for the show.
The first two episodes of season three have snowballed palpable tension, shocking violence, and increasingly complicated group dynamics into a riveting new direction for the show. Kirkman recently revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that much of the new season would focus the group's maturation, specifically, the coming-of-age of Rick's son Carl.
"He definitely has two father figures and he's learned a lot of things from both. We have seen a lot of influence that Shane has had over him and you've seen moments where Rick has tried to give him advice," said Kirkman.
"Carl is really taking everything that he can to try and learn to be a stronger person and it's really resulting in him becoming this pretty awesome child soldier who's going to be doing some remarkable things this season."