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“The Walking Dead” mid-season premieres at no.1

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New York, New York – AMC’s The Walking Dead returned on February 9 with the mid-season premiere of its fourth season, delivering 15.8 million viewers and 10.4 million adults 18-49. It was the no. 1 telecast for the night among adults 18-49, including the Sochi Winter Olympics. The Walking Dead continues to be the no. 1 show on all of television among the coveted 18-49 demographic. With time-shifted playback, the premiere should exceed 20 million viewers.

“With a number of high-profile choices on television last night, for The Walking Dead to deliver record ratings is remarkable. Thanks to the fans, who have been so supportive of this show in so many ways. We share your passion for this world,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “Thanks also to the terrific team of writers, starting with Scott Gimple and Robert Kirkman, who with our outstanding executive producers, cast and crew pour their hearts into this series, always with the fans in mind. I speak for everyone at AMC in expressing my sincere appreciation and our shared excitement for the journey ahead. Chocolate pudding for all!”

Following the 9pm premiere of The Walking Dead, AMC presented Talking Dead at 10pm, which became the highest premiere in series history with 5.9 million viewers, including 3.9 million adults aged 18-49. Hosted by Chris Hardwick, Talking Dead features Hardwick and fans, actors, producers and other TV enthusiasts, discussing and dissecting that night’s Dead premiere. The mid-season premiere featured guests Greg Nicotero and Dania Gurira.

Key Nielsen Highlights for the season four premiere of The Walking Dead

  • 9pm airing – 7.9 national HH rating with 15.8 million viewers
  • 9pm airing – 8.2 national rating with 10.4 million Adults 18-49
  • 9pm airing – 7.4 national rating with 8.9 million Adults 25-54

Key Nielsen Highlights for the season three premiere of Talking Dead

  • 10pm airing – 3.1 national HH rating with 5.9 million viewers
  • 10pm airing – 3.0 national rating with 3.9 million Adults 18-49
  • 10pm airing – 2.9 national rating with 3.5 million Adults 25-54

Source: Nielsen Fast National US Ratings (2/9/14). #1 show season to date (9/23/13 – 2/9/14) excludes repeats, sports and specials.

The mid-season return of The Walking Dead also dominated TV-related Twitter activity, and was the no. 1 show of the night on Twitter across all cable and broadcast networks with 1.24 million show-related Tweets from 526,174 unique authors, generating a total of 68.4 million impressions, according to Nielsen SocialGuide. Twitter activity peaked at 9pm EST with 41,011 Tweets, representing 86.6 percent of all television-related Twitter activity at that time. The Walking Dead was also the no. 1 program for the day in TV-related Twitter activity, with the most unique authors and total Tweets. Leading into the premiere, a live chat with The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus helped spike show-related tweets. With fans sending in their questions to Reedus, the dedicated hashtag, #askNorman, was trending worldwide on Twitter. The mid-season premiere also generated a number of simultaneous trending topics including #TheWalkingDead, TheWalkingDeadMarathon, TWD, Hershel, WalkerGotMyShoe, Michonne, Rick, Pudding, WalkingDead, TalkingDead, ItsForYou.