“The Walking Dead” returned with a huge audience for AMC on Sunday night.
The first airing of the third season premiere averaged 10.9 million viewers overall, up 50 percent over the season 2 premiere. Among young adults, it averaged 7.3 million viewers, up a comparable percentage. The three airings at 9 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight combined for 15.2 million viewers.
AMC says these numbers make the premiere the most-watched telecast for any drama series in basic cable history.
“Thank you to the fans for making ‘The Walking Dead’ such a tremendous success,” AMC president Charlie Collier said in a statement. “We are honored and humbled that television’s largest adult audience resides on AMC. So many people on both sides of the camera worked tirelessly on this project, and I thank and congratulate each of them for their amazing contribution.”