AMC's Halloween premiere of The Walking Dead drew 3.6 million viewers in the adults 18-49 demographic, the most for any cable original series premiere this year, according to the network.
Walking Dead earned a 3.7 household rating and 5.3 million total viewers. That is the largest audience for any original series on the network, which includes Emmy favorites Mad Men and Breaking Bad and new series Rubicon.
"It's a good day to be dead. We are so proud of this series, its depth of storytelling and the remarkable talent attached," said Charlie Collier, AMC president, in a statement. "As the network dedicated to bringing viewers the best stories on television, we are so pleased to have the opportunity with ‘The Walking Dead' to raise the bar within this popular genre and continue our commitment to being the home of premium television on basic cable."
Walking Dead, which is based on the comic book series of the same name, is AMC's first wholly owned original production and is debuting in 120 countries this week thanks to a partnership with Fox International Channels.
