‘Walking Dead’ Season 7 Finale Is AMC Show’s Lowest-Rated Closer Since 2012
“The Walking Dead” Season 7 finale posted the AMC series’ lowest finale ratings since Season 2 aired back in 2012, according to Nielsen data released on Tuesday.
The Season 7 finale posted a 5.4 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 11.3 million viewers, which matches the per episode averages for Season 7 in both measures. That puts it above the Season 2 finale (4.7, 9 million) but below the Season 3 finale (6.4, 12.4 million). Likewise, this season’s finale was down significantly from the Season 6 finale (6.9, 14.2 million) to the tune of approximately 22 percent in the key demo and 20 percent in total viewers.
In addition, the finale came nowhere close to matching the season opener, which saw the resolution of the cliffhanger ending that revealed who in Rick’s group was brutally killed by Negan. The Season 7 premiere drew an 8.4 rating and 17 million viewers, meaning the show was down approximately 36 percent in the demo and 33 percent in total viewers from the beginning of the season to the end. To be fair, the Season 7 premiere posted the second-highest ratings in the show’s history, second only to the Season 5 premiere (8.7, 17.3 million)
On a positive note, the episode did tick up compared to the episode that aired the week prior (4.9, 10.5 million) by approximately 10 percent in the demo and 7 percent in total viewers, and was also up slightly compared to the midseason finale (5.1, 10.6 million) back in December. This week’s episode was also airing against competition in the form of the WWE pay-per-view Wrestlemania, the ACM Awards on CBS, and the series finale of “Black Sails” on Starz and the season finale of “Big Little Lies” on HBO.
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