“The Walking Dead” Takes A Hit With Low Ratings

“The Walking Dead” ratings have taken the AMC series to its lowest point so far for the second episode of the 9th season only drew a 2.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. In total, there were only 4.9 million total viewers in Live+Same Day numbers.

The lowest the series previously hit was a 2.4 rating in its first season while the previous low total viewers was 4.7 million during an episode from the first season.

The zombie series finished in second place behind “Sunday Night Football.”

As more and more people are shifting towards on-demand schedules, appointment viewing is becoming less of a priority. As a result, AMC is offering “The Walking Dead” episodes 9×01 and 9×02 to members on its AMC Premiere service exactly 24 hours ahead of the episode’s broadcast.

With many people having had already watched the episode before it aired, they do not see the need to re-watch the episode when it airs on TV. AMC Premiere hasn’t released the numbers of viewers watching via subscription, but the network has previously bragged about a high subscription record.

This ahead-of-schedule viewing of episodes is contributing to the downward trend in ratings, which is not a great look for the zombie series.

By: Maytinee Kramer