'Walking Dead' Posts Lowest Mid-Season Debut Ratings Since 2012

If the producers of The Walking Dead were hoping for a big turn-around in the series' ratings slide with this week's mid-season premiere, they have to be disappointed. The ninth episode of season 7 was the third-highest-rated episode of the season so far, but compared to past mid-season premieres, it did not draw a big audience.

The total viewership for the live airing of the episode was 11.99 million, making it the highest-rated episode of the season since the second one. That second episode, however, had already seen a huge ratings drop from the very high-profile season premiere, which attracted 17.03 million viewers.

In comparison to past seasons, though, the mid-season debut seems to be continuing the disappointing trend of the season overall. The episode drew the smallest mid-season audience since the season-two halfway point, when that season's ninth episode drew 6.9 million viewers.

If nothing else, it seems that TWD's ratings slide has stabilized and that the series is now consistently drawing ratings comparable to those of its third season. In that season, the series was on the cusp of becoming a huge hit, but its ratings were well below the stellar numbers that would come in the fourth, fifth and sixth seasons.