“The Walking Dead” definitely isn’t dead, but it is at an all-time low.
Sunday’s episode, titled “Omega,” averaged a 1.7 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, down 15 percent from the prior week’s midseason premiere and slightly below its previous all-time demo low of 1.8 last fall.
This week also marked the show’s worst-ever performance in total viewers with 4.54 million people tuned in for Sunday’s episode. That’s down 12 percent from last week and less than the previous low of 4.71 million for the show’s second episode in 2010.
The episode aired against the NBC All-Star Game on TNT and TBS, likely accounting for the week-over-week declines.
The aging series has seen steep ratings declines across the past few years, with viewership numbers for Season 9 coming in well below the previous season. And moving forward, the show will also have to contend with the loss of several key on-screen players, including series stars Andrew Lincoln and Maggie Cohen, both of whom exited earlier this season. Longtime series regular Danai Gurira is set to follow suit next year.
However, despite the downward trend — which is more or less in line with across-the-board cable ratings declines in recent years — the once-massively popular zombie drama remains the most-watched non-sports program on cable and has already been picked up for a 10th season to air in the fall.