If it wasn't already official, it is now: Zombies are a winner. According to The Hollywood Reporter, last night's epic, action/zombie-packed the ratings for Season 4 premiere of The Walking Dead were incredible. It pulled in a massive 16.1 million viewers during its first, live 9 PM showing, more than 5 million viewers higher than the Season 3 premiere — which, at the time, was a record setter at 10.9 million viewers. Even better, ratings amongst the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic were the best of any broadcast series this fall, including Sunday Night Football, which often manages to slay the Sunday ratings despite what major show is on.
This is huge for The Walking Dead, which had already claimed the spot as AMC's best performing drama during its third season that wrapped earlier this year. The Season 3 finale, which aired last March, pulled in 12.42 million viewers total — which, at the time, was a series high for the show.
These new ratings make The Walking Dead TV's top scripted performer this year so far — in addition to TV's bloodiest. Not bad, considering that just three years ago, the pilot pulled in only 5.4 million viewers total. In other words, AMC's probably not too sad over the end of Breaking Bad anymore — the rest of 2013 belongs to the walkers.
