Sadly, we aren’t going to know anytime soon who Negan’s victim was in the final minutes of The Walking Dead‘s season 6 finale on Sunday, but we do already know the ratings from the 90-minute finale.
The viewership for the emotionally draining finale totaled 14.2 million, 8.8 million of which were between the ages of 18-49. While 14.2 million viewers seems like a lot (because it is) the viewership for the recent finale was actually down from the previous year.
The season 5 finale in 2015 drew in a total viewership of 15.8 million with 10.4 being between the ages of 18-49. Plus, the season 5 finale for The Walking Dead aired the same night as the 2015 Country Music Awards and still managed to draw in an impressive crowd.
In the weeks leading up to the season finale, The Walking Dead saw a few peaks and valleys with its viewership. In comparison to the episode which aired on March 27, only a week before the finale, the final episode of season 6 saw a 15% increase in viewership.
In the grand scheme of things, however, dips in viewership aren’t a big deal for The Walking Dead considering it is the top-rated series on TV, according to Deadline. The series enjoys a strong fan base and high viewership, despite what we are put through each season. The season finale drew in the second largest viewership number for the sixth season, second only to the season 6 premiere on October 11, 2015. The season opened with 14.63 million viewers, which was even down from the previous season. Not that 14.63 million viewers is anything to sneeze at.
These numbers for the finale do not, however, include the Live+3 numbers which will accumulate through the week with fans catching up on the series finale online. Those numbers should be released by the end of the week.
The Walking Dead will return this fall, but not after an agonizing summer of us dealing with the season finale trauma.