'Walking Dead' Ratings Hold Steady

Ratings for The Walking Dead were a little higher this week than last week. That's good news, since it suggests that the season-long ratings slide that the series had been experiencing is almost definitely over. But it's not great news because the series seems to have settled at a ratings plateau that's nothing to be thrilled about.

This week's episode of TWD drew 10.54 million viewers. That's up a bit from the 10.32 million who watched the previous week's episode. It's also the second time in the second half of the season that there have been week-to-week ratings increases.

However, this week's ratings numbers were still disappointing. It was the eighth episode of the season to fail to break the 11-million-viewer barrier, and it's still the fifth-lowest-rated episode of the season. Only three of the season's 15 episodes so far have broken the 12-million-viewer mark, and this week's ratings are off nearly 40% from those of the season premiere last fall.

The series faces a real test as it goes into its season finale next week. Every season of TWD thus far has experienced a substantial ratings jump for its final episode, and the much-maligned season seven is under intense pressure to deliver. If next week's episode doesn't break the 12-million barrier, it will have the distinction of being the lowest-rated finale of any of TWD's 16-episode seasons.