The Walking Dead Major Character Deaths Usually Raise Viewership

In spite of fan objections, petitions and boycott threats, Forbes has put together some numbers to reveal that when The Walking Dead kills a major player, ratings go up.

It's pretty much that simple -- except in the case of last year's Tyreese good-bye.

As seen in the graphic above, the loss of characters like Amy, Dale, Shane, Sophia, Lori, T-Dog, Merle, Andrea, Hershel, The Governor and Beth led to increases in ratings with the following episode, as fans eagerly tuned in to see how the rest of the group reacted to the loss.

The lack of tune-in following Tyreese's death could be as simple as the fact that he died in the midseason premiere, which was already way up from the usual ratings. Numbers were climbing as Beth's saga came close to concluding, and once that storyline was finished, either Beth's fans may have taken off for a few weeks en masse as they petitioned for her return, or maybe it was just that fans felt they needed some downtime following a pair of major character deaths.

The Walking Dead returns with a devastating new episode tonight, so we'll be sure to check in with ratings over the next few weeks as things seem guaranteed to get ugly...!