Make no mistake,The Walking Deadis still one of the biggest shows on television, but the hit series is continuing to show signs of waning interest. The show’s seventh season just ended and didn’t leave fans with a frustrating cliffhanger like it did last year, but that didn’t help out in the ratings department.The Walking Deadseason 7 finale saw a big drop off, representing the lowest rated finale for the series in five years.
According toDeadline,The Walking Dead’s season 7 finale, “The First Day of The Rest of Your Life”, brought in 11.3 million viewers in the live ratings. That is still a massive number but it represents a sharp decline from season 6 finale, which brought in 14.2 million viewers.The Walking Deadseason 6 finale was also showing decline from the all-time high season 5 finale, which brought in 15.8 million viewers. 15.8 million to 11.3 million in just two years is a pretty steep decline, but AMC isn’t going to hit the panic button just yet.
Despite the steep decline thatThe Walking Deadis facing in viewership, it is still a monster hit. The show, which is based onRobert Kirkman’s best-selling Image Comics series of the same name, is still the highest-rated show on TV.The Walking Deadbests shows likeThe Big Bang Theory,Empireand this season’s latest hit,This Is Us. So, until things get a whole lot worse, AMC is going to continue plugging away with season after season of the series, as well as the spin-off showFear The Walking Dead, for as long as they possibly can.
It is also worth noting thatThe Walking Dead season 7 finalewill probably do a lot better once the DVR and streaming numbers are factored in. The episode, which aired last Sunday night on AMC, was facing some very stiff competition in the form ofWrestleManiaand the Country Music Awards, which aired on CBS. Those events almost definitely took some attention away from the 90-minuteWalking Deadfinale, which was directed byGreg Nicotero. But still, this is the third lowest-rated finale in the history of the series, with only season 1 and season 2 ofThe Walking Deadhaving lower-rated finales. Those aired before the show really hit it huge inmainstream pop culture, so it is definitely significant that the series is showing signs of decline now.
The Walking Deadfaced ratings issues all season, with overall ratings for the show hitting a four-year low at one point. Though, saying that AMC is having ratings issues withThe Walking Deadis all relative because, as mentioned, the show is still a tremendous hit. Case in point,The Walking Deadhas already been renewed forseason 8, which is expected to air this fall. So, even though it looks like quite a few viewers have given up on the show,The Walking Deadis likely to continue for at least a few more years. AndFear the Walking Deadis already set for a Season 3 premiere this summer.
