The Walking Dead still tops the ratings in season 10

Even without airing the season 10 finale and in its first full season without Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead is still one of the most popular shows on TV.

The Walking Dead season 10 showed fans and critics alike that even without OG Rick Grimes and with the highly anticipated season 10 finale shelved due to coronavirus, the show can still draw huge audiences. While some critics love to point to the show’s reduced numbers as proof that the show is fading, industry experts and the fans who love the show know that’s just not true.

According to a recent article in The Hollywood Reporter, cable views are down across the board, which impacts The Walking Dead and every other show on cable. But, TWD still is the number one rated scripted cable drama. That’s an unprecedented achievement for a genre show on basic cable. Not only is the show number one on cable, it came in 11th for all Nielson-measured primetime shows across the TV spectrum, including broadcast shows.

What does that mean? In short, it means that The Walking Dead’s ratings are still phenomenal even though they have dipped from the series highs of previous seasons. It’s also worth noting that some of the decline in measurable ratings is due to the number of fans who have subscribed to AMC Premiere in order to see each episode two days early. AMC doesn’t realize that data. TV ratings also often don’t accurately portray the number of viewers that a show has these days when there are multiple platforms that fans can watch the episode on.

In a way, The Walking Dead is a victim of its own success. The popularity of the show skyrocketed so quickly and the numbers went so high that no show would be able to maintain those numbers. Especially in the face of a changing TV landscape that ushered in multiple ways for people to watch the show and a continual decrease in cable descriptions as people cut the cord. But sorry critics, The Walking Dead is still on top.

Season 10 brought new life to The Walking Dead

Some critics felt sure that the show wouldn’t be able to maintain the top spot after the departure of Rick Grimes in season 9 and some creative stumbles in season 8. But showrunner Angela Kang, who took over in season 9, was able to get The Walking Dead back on track and return to the nuanced character development, taut narrative arcs, and fantastic effects that made the show a hit.

Fans have become excited about the show again and are anxiously awaiting the season 10 finale, which promises to deliver a huge ending to a stellar season.

That season finale and the year ahead

Current events caused the delay of The Walking Dead season 10 finale and pushed back the debut of both new spinoff The Walking Dead: World Beyond and the new season of Fear The Walking Dead.

The season finale will air as a special event as soon as the special effects can be completed but there’s no timeframe yet for when that can be expected. The Walking Dead World Beyond will premiere this fall, and it looks like at least the first half of Fear The Walking Dead season 6 will air in the fall as well.

The Walking Dead season 11

Filming usually starts in May for the new season of TWD, but again because of current events there is no timeframe yet for when season 11 filming will begin.

But, even if filming is delayed or if season 11 gets pushed back a year there will be TWD World Beyond and Fear The Walking Dead to keep fans immersed in TWD Universe until the flagship show returns to take the survivors to a new world beyond the communities they know.

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