Sunday night’s premiere of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live set all-time records for both viewership and customer acquisition on AMC+ and is the #1 cable drama premiere of the 2023/24 television season in key demos.
AMC Networks says that the episode delivered nearly 3 million premiere night viewers in Nielsen live+3 ratings, the biggest premiere night audience for a new AMC series in six years, going back to 2018’s premiere of The Terror, which had an original episode of The Walking Dead as a lead-in.
Sunday was the biggest day for direct-to-consumer sign-ups in the history of AMC+, and the premiere of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is the most-watched episode of any show ever on the platform. The two-day viewership total of The Ones Who Live on AMC+ has already outpaced the first week of viewership for any season premiere on the platform.
The premiere was the #1 most social cable show on Sunday, with more than three times the level of activity as the next show. #TheOnesWhoLive was the #1 trending topic on Twitter/X in the U.S. Sunday night and multiple terms associated with the show also trended as well.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live stars Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira as the iconic characters Rick Grimes and Michonne. Scott M. Gimple, the chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe, is the showrunner for The Ones Who Live and Lincoln, Gurira and Gimple are executive producers of the series.
Lincoln and Gurira said: “When we each began this extraordinary journey so many years ago, the most mind-meltingly beautiful moments have always been either with or about the fans. Playing trailers at San Diego Comic-Con, sharing the dark with 6,500 people, we both came to realize this is a story that is a connection between the passionate commitment of our remarkable crews and casts and the greatest fans in fandom.
They continued: “Telling this story from behind and in front of the cameras as a team has been a dream (sometimes a fever dream), and to see the response is even better than five pizzas and a wedding ring. We want to take this opportunity to thank those fans from the bottom of our blood-stained hearts. We all did this together. Big, Epic Love, Andrew, and Danai.”
“On Sunday, we had an incredible reunion of TWD giants: Rick and Michonne — and the fans of The Walking Dead, both old and new,” Gimple said. “Danai and Andy’s mind-blowing work in front of and behind the camera, along with the efforts of a truly wonderful cast and crew, was all for an audience we asked to believe just a little bit longer. We’re grateful they did.”
“What a start for The Ones Who Live, the biggest episode of television in the history of AMC+ for both viewership and customer acquisition, the top cable drama of the current TV season in key demos, and our biggest AMC series premiere in six years,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks.
“This is a show the world, and particularly the incredibly passionate and engaged fans of this universe, have been waiting for and essentially willed into existence. Thanks to Danai, Andy, and Scott for everything it took to get here and all that is yet to come. We can’t wait to share the rest of this incredible season with the fans over the next five weeks.”
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live tells the epic love story of beloved The Walking Dead characters Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira). The series also stars Pollyanna McIntosh, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Terry O’Quinn, Matthew August Jeffers, Craig Tate, Breeda Wool, and Andrew Bachelor, among others.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is executive produced by showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Lincoln, Gurira, Denise Huth, Brian Bockrath, and Greg Nicotero. The series continues this Sunday with a new episode at 9 p.m. on AMC and AMC+ and joins The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon as the current series in The Walking Dead Universe.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.