The season 7 finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead was, simply put, not good. In fact, this entire season has been a big disappointment for fans. Couple that with the stiff competition Sunday night offered – WrestleMania, Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS, Big Little Lies finale on HBO and the series finale of Black Sails on Starz – and it’s easy to see why The Walking Dead was relatively lifeless in the ratings compared to season’s past.
The bloated near 90-minute finale, “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life,” on April 2 attracted 11.3 million total viewers. While this number represents a 7% bump from the March 26 penultimate episode, it still marks a double-digit decline from TWD‘s all-time finale high of season 5.
Though The Walking Dead remains one of the most popular shows on television, the series has seen a noticeable drop in viewership. The season 7 finale numbers are the third-lowest in the show’s run since the six-episode first season in 2010 (5.97 million) and season 2’s finale (8.99 million). Overall, season seven averaged 11.35 million live viewers while season six averaged 13.15 million. Then again, The Walking Dead still claims the top spot among this season’s highest-rated series (both broadcast and cable) and has already been renewed for an eighth season.
Despite the inconsistency in quality this show has experienced over the years, it remains easily digestible content that wins the ratings race even during a minor audience recession. AMC can’t be too mad about that.
Season eight is expected to debut in the fall.
The 'The Walking Dead' Season 7 Ratings May Surprise You
