The Season 9 finale of "The Walking Dead" was the lowest-rated finale the show has ever had.
In the Nielsen Live+Same Day ratings, Sunday's finale averaged a 1.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 5 million viewers. In fairness, that is up over 20 percent in both measures compared to last week's episode and is in line with this season's Live+Same Day average.
However, it is down approximately 44 percent in the key demo and 37 percent in total viewers compared to the Season 8 finale (3.4 rating, 7.9 million viewers). The series is also down over 30 percent in both measures in Live+Same Day compared to last season's average.
Nevertheless, "The Walking Dead" has seen an average Live+3 growth of 52 percent in the demo and 47 percent in total viewers for the first seven episodes of the second half of the season for which data is available. That is the highest rates of time-shifted viewing ever for the series. It is also still the highest-rated show on cable and one of the highest-rated scripted shows in all of television.
The show's season finales, ranked by Live+Same Day demo rating, are as follows:
8.2, 15.8 million (Season 5)
8.0 rating, 15.7 million (Season 4)
6.9 rating, 18 million (Season 6)
6.4, 12.4 million (Season 3)
5.4 rating,11.3 million (Season 7)
4.7, 9 million (Season 2)
3.4 rating, 7.9 million (Season 8)
3.0 rating, 6 million (Season 1)
1.9 rating, 5 million (Season 9)
