Season 9 of The Walking Dead was supposed to be a return to form after a somewhat underwhelming reaction to season 8. It seems that this isn’t entirely going to play, though, as the premiere was the lowest rated in the show’s history and the second episode drew a weak 2.0 rating in the crucial 18-49 demographic, bringing in just 4.9 million viewers (that includes live and same day).
Now, the bad news continues, as Deadline reports that the live + same day ratings from this past Sunday’s episode only managed to score a 1.94 in that aforementioned demographic, which is a new series low. The audience did spike to 5 million live viewers, but still, this is certainly worrying to hear and we can’t imagine that AMC’s too happy about it. Especially since, like we said before, they’ve been touting season 9 as a return to form for the once juggernaut show.
Obviously, ever-declining ratings certainly don’t suggest a healthy longterm prognosis for any TV series, even one as big as The Walking Dead. And while it’s hard to say for sure what’s going on, perhaps fans are just finally getting bored of the slow-moving plotlines, with the amount to catch up putting off any new viewers? AMC’s announced that they have plans for another ten years of the series, but if this downward spiral continues, you can expect them to quickly amend that.
So, will The Walking Dead be able to turn it around and finish off the season strong? Perhaps, but it’s certainly been a struggle lately and with Rick Grimes about to make his exit, it wouldn’t surprise us if more than a few viewers decide to leave along with him, as it’s likely that a lot of people are just hanging on to see him off.