It was to be expected that AMC’s latest zombie drama, Fear The Walking Dead, would draw a big crowd, considering they already have an established market with its companion series, The Walking Dead . However, even with a built-in audience group, there were still concerns that the fan base would not take to the new zombie series like they did the original.
AMC need not worry, though, after the ratings came in and Fear The Walking Dead managed to break cable records with its pilot episode. Deadline reported that a staggering 10.1 million viewers tuned in to watch Fear The Walking Dead , 6.3 million of them among the all important 18-49 age group. But how does this compare to the pilot episode of The Walking Dead ? Thanks to the built-in fan base, Fear The Walking Dead nearly doubled the original show’s pilot where 5.35 million people tuned in. Considering The Walking Dead also had its own built-in fan base with the comic book series it was based on, that was a decent pull, but potentially, nothing that would alert AMC to the juggernaut they were now sitting on.
As the New York Times points out, The Walking Dead manages to draw more than 20 million viewers in total per episode, so Fear The Walking Dead still has some groundwork to do, but if the fan reviews are anything to go by, it just might be achievable. Considering Fear The Walking Dead is now the biggest show to debut on cable, it is no surprise that AMC and SundanceTV president, Charlie Collier, was quick to praise the new zombie show in the following statement .
“Thank you and congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers and the entire cast and crew of Fear The Walking Dead. It is increasingly difficult to evaluate a show’s success on night one. However, we are releasing these live/same day ratings because Fear The Walking Dead delivered record-breaking numbers that are all the more special in this era of time-shifted viewing and audience fragmentation. To have a companion series to the No. 1 show on television driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity and pop cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating. Of course none of it is possible without the fans, whose passion leads to these remarkable results.”
Fear The Walking Dead returns next Sunday night on AMC.
What did you think of the pilot episode of Fear The Walking Dead ? Will you be tuning in again? Let us know by commenting below!
[Image credit: AMC]