‘The Walking Dead’ Ratings Stay Strong Without Rick

The Walking Dead‘s ratings held steady with its first episode in the post-Andrew Lincoln and Rick Grimes era.

The Walking Dead Episode 9×06 drew a 2.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, with 5.1 million total viewers on Sunday night. It’s a minor drop from Rick’s final episode one week prior, which drew a 2.1 rating. The AMC zombie show has proved to be strong in Live+3 numbers, though, as last week’s Episode 9×05 garnered a total of 8 million viewers with the later viewings, nabbing a 3.2 rating.

The Walking Dead remains down by comparison to its previous seasons, having slipped hard during Season Seven and Season Eight. Critical and fan praise through Season Nine might help the AMC series regain a bit of traction. Though the show has lost its lead actor and character, it has undergone a pair of near-reboots in its ninth season with Angela Kang at the helm as showrunner. Moving forward, the AMC show is looking to hook its audience with a six year time jump shifting the lives of the characters drastically while also introducing the popular Whisperers group from Robert Kirkman’s comics.

There are only two episodes of The Walking Dead remaining in 2018 before the series takes its mid-season hiatus.

The Walking Dead Episode 9×06 was titled, “Who Are You Now?” The official synopsis for Who Are You Now? read, “The Survivors encounter unfamiliar faces outside the safety of their community’s walls and must decide whether or not this new group can be trusted.” The episode was directed by Larry Teng on a script from Eddie Guzelian.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.

(via Variety)