AMC Sees Long, Long Future for 'The Walking Dead'
by EG
Despite having lost two thirds of its peak audience in just four seasons, The Walking Dead has a decades-long future ahead of it according to the head of its home network, AMC. The network is betting big on the TWD franchise, and it doesn't want to entertain the notion that the glory days of zombie TV have passed. Read on for details.
AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan on Thursday said The Walking Dead franchise is hardly dead, despite lower ratings in recent seasons.
"We have an awful lot of life left in The Walking Dead — I mean decades and decades of life left," Sapan told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in New York City during a session that was webcast.
The AMC Networks boss, inevitably asked by investors about the popular zombie drama's projected life cycle, said TV franchises, if managed properly, can run over generations. AMC Networks has tripled down on The Walking Dead franchise with a third series and has partnered with Universal Pictures on a theatrical movie.
"That's an indication of a vital heartbeat in the franchise," Sapan added. He also discussed how the company behind AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv has adopted a genre streaming strategy on the distribution front to battle Netflix and Amazon Prime in an age of skinny bundles, streaming content and virtual distributors.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Do you think the TWD franchise will still be going strong in 30 years? Let us know in the comments below.