The Walking Dead Midseason Finale Leads Live +3 Ratings

The Walking Dead may have gone on hiatus last weekend, but it did so with a bang. After its explosive Season 7 premiere, ratings for the hit AMC series have stumbled along, but The Walking Dead regained its footing with the midseason finale. The numbers are in, and the drama led cable ratings from December 5-11.

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Thanks to DVR and on-demand viewings, The Walking Dead brought in a +3 rating last wee. December 11 saw 2.4 points added to the show's demographic of adults ages 18-49, pushing the score from a 5.1 to 7.5. The midseason finale bump was nicer than the one it experienced the week prior; The second-to-last episode only had a 2.3 demographic increase.

When it comes to raw viewers, The Walking Dead also raised the bar. The midseason finale drew in 4.6 million people as opposed to the previous week's 4.45 million. AMC's Talking Dead after-show also pulled in good ratings. With Chris Hardwick at the wheel, the recap had a 2.5 rating thanks to an appearance by Norman Reedus.

In fact, both The Walking Dead and Talking Dead are the #1 shows on cable for their respective fields. For the fifth year, The Walking Dead was the most popular show by a huge margin. The series average 16.1 million viewers per episode and 10.1 million adults 18-49 across its first eight episodes.

As for Talking Dead, it is still the #1 talk show on cable television. It averages about 5.5 million viewers with 3.3 of them being adults 18-49.

The official synopsis for Season 7 of The Walking Dead lies below:

"Up until this point, our characters have lived through conflicts... Disease, hunger, scores of the undead, tragedy, betrayal, and unthinkable loss. Through this, they've become formidable. Powerful. Unstoppable.

To start Season Seven, that power is taken away. They had found safety and stability. They had created a home. They thought the world was theirs. They thought they knew the world. They were wrong.

The first half of Season Seven sees our group fractured, broken, bereaved, and picking up the pieces while living under the thumb of oppression. Negan will have successfully brought the survivors under his control, brutally convincing them to live under his rules with a deadly and horrific example of what happens if they don't.

Other characters are unaware of what's happened, but have become separated from the group either by incident or choice -- they will learn that they can't escape this new turn of their world, either. This half season is about these characters starting over.

The overall theme of the season is beginning again. The world isn't what they thought it was. It's bigger and it's even more dangerous."

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The Walking Dead returns for the second half of Season 7 on February 12, 2016. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.