from a TV ratings blog:
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The premiere of the AMC original series The Walking Dead was anything but, as the one-hour telecast scared up a whopping 5.34 million viewers on Halloween night. Among those who stayed in to watch the episode were 3.57 million viewers 18-49, making The Walking Dead the most successful cable series debut of 2010. The overall delivery and demo numbers also marked an historic high for an AMC original series bow. (AMC's all-time biggest draw to date came courtesy of its two-part miniseries event, Broken Trail. All told, the Robert Duvall oater averaged 9.96 million viewers on June 25 and 26, 2006, per Nielsen live-plus-seven-day ratings data).
If The Walking Dead's numbers weren't frightening enough to AMC's Sunday night competition, consider the fact that many fans of the zombie/horror genre were likely out bobbing for apples or hurling eggs at hapless passersby while the series debuted. If past performance is anything to go by, AMC could very well see those deliveries swell by as much as 50 percent upon application of L-7 data.
In other words, after AMC is credited for DVR playback, The Walking Dead's deliveries could swell to some 8 million viewers. Any way you slice it, look to AMC president and general manager Charlie Collier to announce a renewal soon. While AMC brass didn't say it in so many words, the premiere far outstripped the network's early expectations.
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I think it's safe to say that this show will be around for awhile.