AMC’s zombie juggernaut series The Walking Dead once again proved it’s the best show on television with its Sixth Season finale this past Sunday night. Read on for all the ratings numbers and additional details.
From The Press Release
“The Walking Dead” closed its sixth season Sunday with a 90-minute finale that delivered 18.4 million viewers and 11.5 million adults 18-49 (9.1 US RTG) in Nielsen live+3 ratings. The episode is expected to generate more than a million additional digital views, and capped a season that again saw “The Walking Dead” as the #1 show on television among adults 18-49, with an average live+3 viewership across the season’s 16 episodes of 18 million total viewers, 11.5 million adults 18-49 and 11.3 million adults 25-54.
The “Talking Dead” finale delivered 7.4 million viewers in live+3 ratings, including 4.5 million adults 18-49 (3.5 US RTG) and 4.7 million adults 25-54.
“We know how rare it is to have the #1 show on television for four years running and to share a season six finale on AMC with more than 18 million fans, to say nothing of the passionate and appreciated conversations that followed. So, as we close this season, first and foremost, a heartfelt ‘thank you’ is on all of our minds,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Thank you to everyone who makes ‘The Walking Dead’ possible, from those working in the Los Angeles-Senoia-New York ‘zombie triangle’ to our fans around the world. We now put down Lucille for a while and leave the ‘at bats’ to baseball until our October return.”
Key Nielsen Highlights for the finale of “The Walking Dead” (L+3)
Episode 616, 9 p.m., Sunday, April 3
· 18.4 million viewers, up 30% from live/same day (growth of 4.2 million)
· 11.5 million Adults 18-49, up 32% from live/same day (growth of 2.8 million)
· 11.7 million Adults 25-54, up 32% from live/same day (growth of 2.9 million)
Key Nielsen Highlights for the finale of “Talking Dead” (L+3)
Episode 616, 10:33 p.m. Sunday, April 3
· 7.4 million viewers, up 16% from live/same day (growth of 1.1 million)
· 4.5 million Adults 18-49, up 15% from live/same day (growth of 595k)
· 4.7 million Adults 25-54, up 17% from live/same day (growth of 680k)
Current live+3 season average rankers for all of television (cable and broadcast) among adults 18-49
All Telecasts
A18-49 Program Name US AA % (000)
AMC WALKING DEAD 9.1 11,493
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL 7.5 9,505
FOX EMPIRE 6.7 8,500
CBS NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL 5.7 7,282
CBS BIG BANG THEORY, THE 5.6 7,050
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK 5.4 6,795
AMC FEAR THE WALKING DEAD 5.2 6,612
ESPN COLL FTBL BOWL STUDIO L 4.8 6,129
ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON L 4.5 5,726
FOX X-FILES 4.3 5,448
Source: Nielsen L+3 (09/21/2015 – 04/03/2016). Excludes repeats, specials. Top 10 Listed. Rank on (000). 2+ TC
Entertainment Only
A18-49 Program Name US AA % (000)
AMC WALKING DEAD 9.1 11,493
FOX EMPIRE 6.7 8,500
CBS BIG BANG THEORY, THE 5.6 7,050
AMC FEAR THE WALKING DEAD 5.2 6,612
FOX X-FILES 4.3 5,448
ABC MODERN FAMILY 3.9 4,945
NBC VOICE 3.7 4,716
ABC GREY’S ANATOMY 3.5 4,447
CBS 60 MINUTES 3.5 4,385
ABC SCANDAL 3.4 4,345
Source: Nielsen L+3 (09/21/2015 – 04/03/2016). Excludes repeats, specials, sports. Top 10 Listed. Rank on (000). 2+ TC
On finale night and across its entire sixth season, “The Walking Dead” was again a major focus of attention in social media on platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
On the day of the season six finale, “The Walking Dead” ranked as the most talked about television show on all three platforms and generated nearly 3 million social engagements on Sunday night. Across the entire season, “The Walking Dead” social content garnered more than 47 million total social engagements during primetime with Twitter and Instagram social engagements seeing double-digit gains of 35% and 55% over the previous year.
Source: ListenFirst Media- DAR, finale/Sunday (4/3/16), Season (2/14-4/3/16 vs. 2/8-3/29/15); *Shareable; week of 3/28/16 (finale week)
