“Fear the Walking Dead” sees record premiere

Cable network AMC's “Fear the Walking Dead,” the much-anticipated companion series to megahit zombie drama “The Walking Dead,” opened to record-setting ratings of its own on Sunday night.

Nielsen estimates that the 90-minute debut of “Fear the Walking Dead” became the No. 1-rated cable series launch on record with 10.1 million viewers. In total viewers, “Fear” surpasses TNT's “Raising the Bar” (7.7 million in 2008) as top dog among cable premieres. AMC now has three of the top five cable launches of all time, with “Walking Dead” ranking fifth.

In both the 18-49 age demographic and total viewers, Sunday's premiere out-rated all 22 episodes from the first two seasons of “The Walking Dead”. The original's third-season premiere did a 5.8 demo rating and 10.87 million total viewers.

“Fear the Walking Dead,” created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, differentiates itself from the original by being set both in a different place (Los Angeles) and time (at the very beginning of the apocalyptic outbreak). Its cast includes Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane and Ruben Blades.

Source: Variety