Although ratings for The Walking Dead have taken a bit of a tumble in its current seventh season, the hit zombie drama remains the number one rated show on TV in the key 18-49 demographic, and AMC is confident that there’s plenty of life left yet in the comic book adaptation.
“The show continues to have creative strength and command a large and loyal audience, which has in turn attracted ad revenue to our great benefit,” said AMC CEO Josh Sapan during an earnings conference call (via THR). “The Walking Dead is a franchise that will deliver ancillary revenues over different distribution platforms for many years to come as it does today, and we believe it will have a long life that accrues to our strategic position and financial benefit.”
Sapan previously spoke about the cable network’s expectations for The Walking Dead’s potentially longevity, comparing it to that of Star Trek when he said it “had incredible long life left in it. [Star Trek] came and went three times. We do think that we have a franchise [in The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead] that is one of the rare franchises that you occasionally come across in what we do for a living.”
Do you agree with Sapan? Are you looking forward to many more years of The Walking Dead? Or would the series be better served if it identified a definitive end point to work towards? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published February 26, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
