17 Million Watch ‘Walking Dead’ Premiere

The season seven opener of The Walking Dead drew just over 17 million total viewers, according to Nielsen’s live plus same day ratings. AMC will release official ratings later in the week, when live plus three numbers are available.  

The 17 million included 10.7 million viewers 18-49, good for an 8.4 national rating. That is virtually flat with the record-setting season five opener in 2014 in terms of total viewers and adults 18-49.

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The barbed wire baseball bat-wielding season opener of the zombie drama was up 20% over the season six finale.

The Talking Dead wrap-up show drew 7.6 million total viewers.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.