The Walking Dead Returns To Series High 16 Million Viewers

We knew the ratings for the season premiere of The Walking Dead would be huge. Maybe even as big as last March’s 12.4 million viewers. But not necessary “zombie apocalypse” big.

Season Four opened last night with “30 Days Without An Accident,” picking up a new series record 16.1 million viewers.

That’s not just a new record for the show that was already cable’s biggest scripted drama — it smashed the old record by 30 percent.

The premiere also scored a monster 8.2 rating in the all-important demographic of adults 18 to 49 (or around 10.4 million people). In that category The Walking Dead was already the most-watched show on TV — cable or broadcast. But last night’s number bested that by 28 percent, setting the AMC original squarely at the top of the ratings food chain.

“Sincere thanks to the fans, who have welcomed The Walking Dead back for its fourth season with the highest-rated episode in the show’s history,” AMC President Charlie Collier said via press release. “We could not be more proud of this show and everyone on both sides of the camera who work so hard to give life to this story of character, leadership and survival. It starts with series creator, writer and executive producer Robert Kirkman, show runner and executive producer Scott Gimple and the director of last night’s episode (and the man behind the make-up) executive producer Greg Nicotero, their fellow executive producers and an extraordinary cast and crew who are giving their all every day. So clearly, thanks to them, the dead have never been more alive.”

Companion series The Talking Dead also enjoyed a big bump in the 10 p.m. hour. The Chris Hardwick hosted talker premiered to 5.1 million viewers, this week featuring guests Scott Gimple (The Walking Dead‘s new showrunner) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle).

Tune in to new episodes of The Walking Dead every Sunday at 9/8c on AMC! Find out more about upcoming episodes in our TWD series guide.