Normally an event as big as the Grammy Awards creates a black hole, sucking all available viewers into its orbit and leaving nary a ray of sunshine for other programming. That proves not to have been the case with Sunday’s high-rated Grammys telecast and the midseason return of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
Even staring down what may end up being the second most-watched Grammys in history, “The Walking Dead” drew a whopping 8.1 million viewers on Sunday (Feb.12) night, including 5.4 million viewers among adults 18-49 and 4.4 million among adults 25-54. All three figures were series highs and the latter two figures broke basic cable records previously held by the October 16 second season premiere of “The Walking Dead.”
Factoring in 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. encores, “The Walking Dead” drew 10.1 million viewers.
Premiering at 10 p.m., the Kevin Smith produced “Comic Book Men” drew 2 million viewers, including 1.3 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic. That’s far below the fall’s retention for the already renewed drama “Hell on Wheels.”
“It is a great night for AMC. We’re thrilled to see this incredible record breaking response to ‘The Walking Dead,’ and ‘Comic Book Men’ is off to a strong start as well. Congratulations to the teams behind both of these shows,” blurbs AMC President Charlie Collier.