'The Walking Dead' Ratings Hit A New Low, But Who Knows What That Means Anymore

There is little doubt in the fanbase's mind these days that The Walking Dead is the best it's been in years. Season 9 was fantastic under Angela Kang's new direction, and yet no increase in quality has been able to reverse the trend of ratings continuing to fall.

That has continued to a somewhat severe degree with the season 10 premiere, which drew just 4 million viewers. That is not only the lowest rated season premiere ever, but it is literally the lowest rated episode ever, beating out the 4.15 million of The Calm Before near the end of season 9.

While I and others will continue to report these "new ratings low!" stories, I have to pose the question here, does this even matter?

The dip in The Walking Dead ratings is not unlike that of a lot of shows who have seen their live viewings fall over the years with zillions of ways to watch shows after they air, or in AMC's case, before they air, as The Walking Dead premiere was actually available to watch a week early for AMC Premiere members, aka the most die-hard TWD superfans. That's a move that obviously would hurt live viewing, but as time goes on that seems to matter less and less.

AMC certainly doesn't care about these so-called Walking Dead declines. Before season 10's premiere even aired, they already greenlit season 11, and they're about to release a third Walking Dead series this coming spring, in addition to going forward with their plans for their spin-off movies. AMC looks at The Walking Dead as a valuable universe, not just as a show to run ads on during Sunday nights. I also think the continued airing of The Walking Dead is a moneymaker in other ways, as AMC just made a deal with Amazon for the post-air streaming rights to the new Walking Dead spin-off, and both Fear and TWD have been Netflix staples for a while now.

As a fan, I don't really care about ratings either. All I want is for the show to be good. I am severely angry at Fear the Walking Dead right now because it's been consistently terrible for two years. I am very pleased with The Walking Dead because season 9 was killer and season 10 is starting out the same way. Both shows have seen huge ratings dips, so quality really has nothing to do with it. Before last night, the lowest rated episode of the series was The Calm Before, which is literally one of the best episodes of the series in terms of quality.

I would expect to see continued declines throughout this season like we did last season, and the last few before that. "Live TV" is just barely a thing that exists anymore outside of news and sports, and this is why you almost never hear about the ratings of Amazon, Netflix or Hulu streaming shows, unless it's extremely good news and something to brag about (" Stranger Things breaks records!" Etc.).

I will keep watching The Walking Dead because it's good now. I would say that I would stop watching if it becomes bad again, but we all know that's not true. I'm here until the end at this point. But that may not be for a decade yet, no matter what the live ratings do.