Posted Tuesday, November 21, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
The audience for AMC's "The Walking Dead" is, well, dying off.
Overnight ratings are down more than 20 percent year over year and are at their lowest level since season two in 2011. This past Sunday's 7.99 million overnight numbers are the first time the show has been below 8 million since the 12th episode of season two.
DVR usage after three days boost ratings more than 40 percent so it's not all depressing bad news. And those totals don't include on-demand and other alternative viewing options which were not as readily available in 2011 and would likely lift the numbers even higher. (Nielsen only makes overnight numbers readily available to the public, but those numbers are increasingly less relevant as more people watch on demand.)
The show's ratings peaked season five with more than 20 million viewers a week and have been dropping ever since. It's now in the 12 million range, which is still big relatively speaking in this day and age of vastly splintered viewing.
All the hype over this war between Rick's group and Negan's Saviors has not been able to overcome the gradual ennui of fans who have been following the show for several years now.
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