The Walking Dead may have fallen to all-time lows in terms of ratings and viewers, the show having suffered a steep decline over the past few years, but it remains one of the most-watched shows on television, and network AMC is confident that there remains plenty of life in the zombie series yet
“I’m not saying the show will go twenty seasons, but I’m not saying it won’t,” said AMC’s president of programming David Madden at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. “Once Game of Thrones is technically off the air, it’s the No. 2 show on TV. You don’t sneeze at it being No. 2 out of the three billion shows that are on TV… I think the show still has – with Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride and Jeffrey Dean Morgan – a lot of characters who are truly beloved on the show.”
The ninth season of The Walking Dead averaged 4.95 million viewers per episode in the U.S., a far cry from the 15 million viewers who were tuning in during the show’s fourth and fifth seasons, and down on the 5.24 million average of the very first season. Companion show Fear the Walking Dead has also lost a good share of its audience, the fifth season delivering a series low average of 2.27 million viewers, compared to 7.61 million for its first season in 2015.
SEE ALSO: The Walking Dead’s Rick Grimes movie will be released theatrically
Nevertheless, AMC appears to remain confident with its Walking Dead universe. Not only has the cable network granted a series order to a third show, but it has also recently announced that it has teamed with Universal to bring the Andrew Lincoln-headlined Rick Grimes movie to theaters.
Can you see The Walking Dead lasting another ten years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
