Tonight's season finale of The Walking Dead is likely to be the most-watched show in the history of cable television. Really?
You don't have to work for Nielsen to understand that The Walking Dead is very popular, and Sunday night's episode will be something of an event. But a deeper dive into numbers behind the show ratings success tells an even more remarkable story.
After AMC bought the pilot based on Robert Kirkman's comics, the show has more than tripled its ratings in less than four years. And, based on past performance, this season is likely to end with a record-breaking hour of television tonight. Here are eight things to know about the most popular show on television on the eve of its biggest night ever. A Fast Start: The October 31, 2010 premiere of The Walking Dead was seen by 5.3 million viewers. In the highly-coveted 18-49 year old demographic, the episode trailed only LeBron James' first game with the Miami Heat, beating the World Series and 30 Rock. The show dipped below 5 million viewers only twice that first season. Was Followed by a Huge Jump: The most significant ratings jump came with the season three premiere. The season two finale 'Beside The Dying Fire' drew 8.99 million viewers, which was the show's best to that point. The season three opener? 'Seed' drew a whopping 10.87 million viewers. The Ratings Broke Records: In its third season The Walking Dead established itself as the highest rated show on cable television. The season four premiere, '30 Days Without an Accident,' which aired on October 13, 2013, was the highest-rated hour of cable television ever with a whopping 16.11 million viewers. What did it top? Disney's High School Musical While the Demographics Astounded: As phenomenal as the ratings have been, they still lag slightly behind a few of the most popular shows on network television, like CBS's NCIS. But when you factor in demographics, The Walking Dead defeats all comers. As far back as Season 2, the show was setting records in the coveted 18-49 year old bracket. The season four premiere drew 10.4 million viewers in that demo. By comparison, the Breaking Bad series-topping finale drew 6.7 million. TWD routinely tops even prime live programming like NFL Sunday Night Football and the Winter Olympics. The one challenger that TWD couldn't top: The Oscars. Which Means Big Money: The Walking Dead 's ad rates are the highest of any cable show at as much at $600,000 per spot, a number which rivals NFL broacasts, where rates for the top games are $570,000. By comparison, the highest rates in a scripted show are CBS's Big Bang Theory at $326,000 per spot. Even When You're Just Talking About It: One of the true cash cows in The Walking Dead franchise is Talking Dead, the post-broadcast talk show hosted by Chris Hardwick consistently attracts between four and five million viewers, including 6.01 million for the season 4 mid-season finale. Not bad for a show that, unlike the production-heavy Walking Dead, costs almost nothing to produce. Premieres Push The Envelope: While the show's plot twists may keep the audiences guessing, its viewership numbers have followed consistent trend. As you can see in the chart above, the biggest jumps have come season to season. with each season premiere to date adding millions oaf viewers. The mid-season finales have posted modest ratings followed by a bump for the mid-season premiere. But the Finales Set Records: In the shows three previous seasons The Walking Dead season finale has also been the highest rated episode of the season, usually by a modest margin, adding between 1.6 and 1.8 million viewers to the record set in the premier. So look for tonight's episode to again be the highest rated hour in the history of cable, adding about 1.7 million viewers to the 16.1 million viewers from the season premiere, for a new record total of 17.8 million viewers What's behind The Walking Dead's ratings success? Share your thoughts in the comments below.For the best-curated television news about The Walking Dead and other great shows, follow me on Twitter (@allenstjohn).Allen St. John is the author of Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game, published by Ballantine Books
Post By http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2014/03/30/the-most-watched-hour-ever-why-the-walking-dead-season-finale-will-break-a-ratings-record-tonight/
0 comments Blogger 0 Facebook
Post a Comment