Things are only getting worse forThe Walking Deadseason 9 in the ratings department. Last week’s season premiere, which was hyped up quite a bit by AMC, wound up being the lowest-rated premiere since the show debuted. And the second episode of season 9 took an even sharper turn in the wrong direction, posting a new record for the all-time series low. Is it time to hit the panic button?
The latest episode, titledThe Bridge, earned a 2.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. The previous series low was a 2.4, which came during season 1. The episode brought in a total of 5 million viewers which, looking on the plus side, isn’t actually the lowest numberThe Walking Deadhas ever seen. Season 1’s low was clocked at 4.7 million viewers, but the show is still, overall, suffering big time in the ratings. The 5 million figure represents a 21 percent declinewhen compared to the season 9 premiere.
WhileThe Walking Deadremains a huge hit, relative to other shows on cable currently, the decline is tough not to pay attention to. Especially considering that, at its high-point, the zombie series, which is based onRobert Kirkman’s Image Comics seriesof the same name, drew in 17 million viewers. That is a tremendous decline and the trend is continuing downward. At this point, one would think the network has to be at least a little bit concerned, even if they’re not declaring that message publically, which is something they wouldn’t likely do. But numbers don’t (usually) lie when it comes to this stuff.
Even so, this season is very much focused on the future of the series, which the network has lofty plans for. Be it through spin-offs or what have you, AMC recently revealed they intend to continue this universe for another decade. Those plans, given the downward trend in ratings, may very well seem overly ambitious now. Granted, the numbers will look better once DVR and streaming numbers are factored in later this week.
It’s particularly interesting thatThe Walking Dead season 9 has failed to captivate viewers, as Lauren Cohan (Maggie) and, more importantly,Andrew Lincoln(Rick) are both set to depart during this year’s story. Considering that Rick has been the lead since the very beginning, one might have thought people would want to see how he goes out. That begs the question; how bad are things going to get once he is gone?The Walking Deadairs Sundays on AMC. This news was previously reported byDeadline.
