A few weeks ago when “The Lost and the Damned” aired, The Walking Dead‘s ratings stooped to their lowest point since the opening season back in 2010.
Per the Nielsen Live+Same Day numbers, the tenth episode of the eighth season only mustered a 2.9 rating among the key demographic (18-49) with a total of 6.8 million viewers. That’s the lowest rating since the first season eight years ago, when “Wildfire” drew a 2.8 rating in that same demo.
Indeed, the last time AMC’s flagship drew less than 7 million viewers was during the second season, when the episode “Better Angels” averaged 6.9 million. Granted, things did pick up a bit last Sunday with “The Key,” but still, it’s been a bit of a struggle all year for the series.
And while everyone has their own reasons for why they’ve decided to stop watching the zombie drama, a new video from Looper attempts to solve the ratings drop. Pointing to several things that have become issues over the years – re-using storylines, tricking the audience, interesting characters being killed off too soon, etc., – they definitely make some good points and the network would be wise to take notes here.
That being said, when looking at its competitors, The Walking Dead still brings in a healthy amount of viewers every Sunday and with any luck, the momentum from “The Key” will continue this weekend, when “Do Not Send Us Astray” premieres. Given the photos and sneak peek clip we’ve already seen, it looks like another solid episode and we can only hope that things continue in the right direction as we quickly approach what’s sure to be an explosive finale.