'The Walking Dead' Ratings Fall to Lowest Since Season 1

The Walking Dead's ratings struggles have continued this week, and things are starting to spiral out of control.

After finally ticking up in its episode-to-episode ratings in last Sunday's midseason premiere, The Walking Dead took a nosedive this week. A mere 6.8 million viewers tuned in for the new episode, earning just a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Per Variety, these ratings are the lowest for The Walking Dead since its first season.

The last time an episode of The Walking Dead drew a rating lower than 3.0 was "Wildfire," all the way back in Season 1, which drew a 2.8. The overall viewers for this week also marked a serious decline, considering the last time less than seven million people tuned in to watch an episode live was in a Season 2 episode titled, "Better Angels."

Season 8 began with solid ratings but dropped significantly in the second episode. Both ratings and viewership have had steady declines for much of the season. The midseason premiere last Sunday, featuring the highly-publicized death of Carl Grimes, finally saw a rise in ratings, and it seemed as though the show might be hitting a stride. Sadly, this week proved that the performance was simply an outlier.

Here's how the ratings have shaken out over the course of the season:

• Episode 8x01: 11.44 million (5.0)
• Episode 8x02: 8.92 million (4.0)
• Episode 8x03: 8.52 million (3.8)
• Episode 8x04: 8.69 million (3.9)
• Episode 8x05: 7.85 million (3.4)
• Episode 8x06: 8.3 million (3.6)
• Episode 8x07: 7.47 million (3.3)
• Episode 8x08: 7.9 million (3.4)
• Episode 8x09: 8.3 million (3.6)
• Episode 8x10: 6.8 million (2.8)

The Walking Dead has traditionally succeeded in the Live+3 ratings, as many viewers watch the episodes on-demand or on the AMC app throughout the week.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead will debut its fourth season after The Walking Dead concludes its eighth, at 10 pm ET on April 15. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.