Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere Boosts AMC Stock Price

The Walking Dead is by far the most successful original series that AMC has aired. It's been a pop-culture king for some time, and with the season 7 premiere it's shown no signs of wear down with age, as 17 million viewers tuned in to see Negan beat several cast member to a pulp.

Not only did The Walking Dead season 7 premiere give AMC a big ratings boost on the night - it actually made the network more valuable for having aired it!

Deadline reports that The Walking Dead season 7 premiere ratings helped boost AMC's stock price by 4% on Monday, and 6% in early trading today (at the time of writing this). It's a pretty positive sign - especially since its measured by the same day viewership. The "live-plus-three-day" metrics are still coming in, and will undoubtedly boost the ratings even further.

This is another pivotal point in AMC's questionable pathway into the future. The Network has been plagued by rumors and leaks about earning problems and high costs of shows like Mad Men, which earned more prestige than ratings and ad/merchandising income. With the most acclaimed shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad now over, and new series not quite halting the masses and catching fire, there's been question about how long AMC can bank on its flagship series, The Walking Dead, to carry things.

It may be an ongoing process to answer the question of how to find the next hit show that will blow up into a pop-culture fixation. However, if AMC was worried about the viability of The Walking Dead as a safety net, they probably needn't worry anymore. The can still (literally) bank on the show to save them.

...But if the only strategy is spinning off what works into new shows, they need to read our suggestions for 5 Walking Dead Spinoffs that would be better than Fear the Walking Dead.

NEXT: 5 Great Walking Dead Spinoff Ideas

MORE: Alternate Negan Kill VIDEO / BEST Twitter Reactions to Negan's Kill / Record HIGH Ratings / Why Negan Didn't Kill Rick / What's Next for Maggie? / What do DEATH 1 & DEATH 2 mean for the show? / Kingdom Preview Released / Negan's Kill Reveal / Season 7 Premiere Recap (SPOILERS) / Who Is King Ezekiel / Where's Daryl Now? / Negan's Comic Book History / Was the Premiere Too Violent?

The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights @9/8c on AMC.