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One episode in and “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” is already setting records for AMC and AMC+.
The zombie drama spin-off, which follows the characters of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira), delivered 3 million viewers during its premiere week, according to Nielsen Live +3 ratings. These premiere ratings are the biggest AMC has seen for a new show in six years. The previous series to hold that record was 2018’s “The Terror,” which had a new episode of “The Walking Dead” as a lead-in.
Last Sunday’s episode also made AMC+ history when it came to direct-to-consumer sign-ups. Additionally, the first episode of “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” is the most-watched episode of any show on the platform. Though AMC didn’t give any specific numbers, the two-day viewership total for the premiere has already outpaced the first week of viewership for any season premiere on the platform.
The latest “Walking Dead” spin-off also had an impact on social with #TheOnesWhoLive trending as the No. 1 topic on X in the United States Sunday night.
“On Sunday, we had an incredible reunion of ‘TWD’ giants: Rick and Michonne — and the fans of ‘The Walking Dead,’ both old and new,” chief content officer behind “The Walking Dead” universe and executive producer of the new series Scott M. Gimple said in a press release. “Danai and Andy’s mind-blowing work in front of and behind the camera, along with the efforts of a truly wonderful cast and crew was all for an audience we asked to believe just a little bit longer. We’re grateful they did.”
“What a start for ‘The Ones Who Live,’ the biggest episode of television in the history of AMC+ for both viewership and customer acquisition, the top cable drama of the current TV season in key demos and our biggest AMC series premiere in six years,” Dan McDermott, president of entertainment for AMC Studios for AMC Networks, said in a press release. “This is a show the world, and particularly the incredibly passionate and engaged fans of this universe, have been waiting for and essentially willed into existence. Thanks to Danai, Andy and Scott for everything it took to get here and all that is yet to come. We can’t wait to share the rest of this incredible season with the fans over the next five weeks.”
The latest series in the “Walking Dead” universe is described as an “epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world” who are kept apart by distance, an unstoppable power and the ghosts of who they were.
In addition to Lincoln and Gurira, “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” stars Pollyanna McIntosh, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Terry O’Quinn, Matthew August Jeffers, Craig Tate, Breeda Wool and Andrew Bachelor. The series is executive produced by showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Lincoln, Gurira, Denise Huth, Brian Bockrath and Greg Nicotero.
New episodes air on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and AMC+.
