‘The Walking Dead’ season 3: Midseason premiere sets another ratings record

Everyone knew that “The Walking Dead” was going to generate huge numbers in its return to television Sunday night; however, who seriously felt as though this show was going to end up becoming the most-watched telecast to date when it was up against the Grammy Awards?

As it turns out, music does not deter zombies at all. Sunday night’s episode drew a staggering 12.3 million viewers as well as a 6.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which are both series highs for the show. Next to recent episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS, this is the highest-rated broadcast of any scripted show in the past year.

The other shocking part of this performance is how it came following some controversy when it comes to the show, including the departure of Glen Mazzara as showrunner after a season and a half on the job. Nothing seems to be putting a dent in this franchise right now, and the fact that it has a fourth season coming up suggests that there are going to be plenty more opportunities to shatter some records moving forward.

Moving forward, the challenge for “The Walking Dead” is going to be very simple: how do you maintain this sort of momentum? Everything that the show has done thus far has turned into ratings gold, but sooner or later, this series (like many others is going to hit its plateau, and it will have to figure out how to keep all of its remaining viewers from jumping ship. The fact that it airs twice a year in eight-episode blocks does help it when it comes to keeping the show fresh in viewers’ minds, and not something that feels overplayed.

Are you surprised at all by the numbers? If you want to read our full review for the midseason premiere, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: AMC