AMC's The Walking Dead is one of the most talked-about shows on television, and it has scored some truly impressive ratings for the network over its seven seasons so far. Season 7 has just come to an end, and although the ratings for the season finale were somewhat disappointing when compared to past episodes' performances, the numbers were still solid. In fact, the overall ratings for Season 7 have enabled The Walking Dead to set a major record.
The Walking Dead was the highest-rated show on television in the 2016-2017 TV season despite the fact that Season 7 didn't perform as well as earlier season. The top ranking means that The Walking Dead is the first and only drama to ever score the highest in the key 19-49 age demographic for five years in a row. The zombie apocalypse may be pretty awful for the characters, but it's been pretty great for AMC for the last half decade!
In another bit of good news, Deadline reports that the ratings for the Season 7 finale experienced a big increase once delayed viewership could be calculated. In the Live+same day tally, the Season 7 finale was viewed by 11.31 million folks and scored a 5.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The Live+3 tally showed a bump of 38% from 11.31 million to 15.5 million viewers, and a bump of 40% from 5.4 to 7.6 in the key demo. Those are huge increases that must have been cause for celebration at AMC.
The bad news is that even the increased numbers from the Live+3 calculations don't boost the Season 7 finale up to the numbers for the Season 6 finale. The 15.5 million and 7.6 rating were down 15% and 16% from the Live+3 calculations for last year's finale. The Walking Dead is still killing most of its competition in ratings and viewership; it just pales in comparison to its own earlier ratings.
It should be interesting to see how The Walking Dead Season 7 finale fares when the Live+7 numbers are in. The show has done well in Live+7 throughout Season 7, so there's a good chance that it will get another boost. We'll have to wait and see. Season 7 hasn't been great overall, and AMC desperately needs another Walking Dead-sized hit. Who knows? Maybe The Son will be a new hit for the network.
The Walking Dead is over for Season 7, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in news as it becomes available. Check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule to figure out all your viewing options before The Walking Dead returns in October, and don't forget to drop by our rundown of 2017 TV renewals and cancellations so far.
