‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7 Premiere Strikes Second-Highest Ratings Ever
Negan might have killed two of our much loved characters but The Walking Dead beat the holy hell out of Sunday night’s television.
The highly anticipated season seven opener of AMC’s zombie drama drew in a whopping 17 million viewers followed by an impressive 8.4 rating among adults 18-49.
Despite Negan’s full- run swing of Lucille, TWD just fell short on hitting crazily high record-breaking ratings – the season five’s premiere received the show’s biggest overnight rating of 17.29 million viewers. Despite all the numbers, it is a testament to the show that after seven years the popular series can still grab people’s attention with a killer of an episode (leaving many of us heartbroken).
With people rioting over the cliff-hanger that left us on the edge of our seat for six months, the rating was up by 22 per cent from the sixth season finale. And yet again, Sunday’s long awaited premiere ended with some fans announcing they were quitting the show due to the high level of brutality.
Those complaining about the return of the apocalyptic world included the Parents TV Council who severely criticised the hour-long episode as, “one of the most graphically violent shows we’ve ever seen on television, comparable to the most violent of programs found on premium cable networks.”
Director Greg Nicotero defended the episode as to staying true to Robert Kirkman’s comic masterpiece.
He said: “What struck me about [the comic] was it was horrifically graphic and senseless and brutal… In this instance, we felt that it was important to launch us into this season by showing the extent of what Negan is capable of doing.
“It’s really unfortunate that people want to take a negative spin on it because, as far as I’m concerned, I’m dedicated to watching a show because I want to see where the story’s going to go next.”
The Walking Dead continues Sunday’s 9/8C on AMC.
