‘The Walking Dead’ season 7, episode 3 live+same day ratings lowest since November 2013

There was no question going into the weekend that “The Walking Dead” was going to be the top-rated non-sports show of Sunday night. It almost always is. However, we did have some questions regarding whether or not the ratings would rise or fall. There was a huge drop for the second episode of season 7, but that was relatively understandable given that we were talking about an installment that aired against not only the World Series, but also a highly-rated NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

Going into Sunday, we figured that the ratings would either stay steady or rise. Not so much.

Instead, “The Cell” (which you can read our review for here) drew in total a 5.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic in addition to 11.7 million viewers. To find an episode that rated lower than this in either measure, you’d have to go all the way back to November 2013. It was in season 4 that the show’s ratings really started to sour into the atmosphere, and that was the only episode in that season to score below a 5.8. “The Cell” does top the majority of the episodes from season 3 and before.

What’s the biggest reason for the decline? Sure, you can say that attention in politics is a slight factor, given that this is proving to be a distraction for many Americans at the moment given how overwhelming the election is this year. However, we think it’s more a testament to viewer fatigue, something that was rearing its head in the latest part of season 6 before a temporary spike to see Negan murder Glenn and Abraham earlier on in this season. More viewers are watching via their DVR and other means, or are simply waiting for Netflix down the line. We’re sure that there are some who are no longer watching, just because seven years is a long time to commit to anything.

We don’t mean to be doom-and-gloom, given that these are still the best numbers for any scripted show on TV. We’re just doing our best to offer up a little bit of historical context and reasoning.