Sunday Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' vs. the NFL

Which do Americans like more, zombies or football? It's a difficult question to answer, and if you try to sort it out by comparing the ratings of "The Walking Dead" and "Sunday Night Football," the answer still isn't entirely clear. The winner of the Sunday-night ratings race depends on how you interpret the numbers.

The latest episode of "The Walking Dead" continued to draw a huge audience, and the episode's total viewership, about 13.3 million viewers, was up a moderate amount from last week. That number is a significant slide from the record audience for the season premiere, but it still makes "The Walking Dead" the hottest drama series on TV right now.

Over on NBC, "Sunday Night Football" drew a little more than 17 million total viewers, which would seem to make it the clear victor in the battle between football and zombies.

But total viewership is only part of the story, and for networks, it's not the most important part of the story. Networks don't care much about viewers younger than 18 or older than 49, and in the age group between those landmarks, "The Walking Dead" is more popular than the NFL. In the 18-49 demographic, this week's "Sunday Night Football" pulled a 6.3 rating, and the "The Walking Dead" managed a 6.8, marking the second week in a row that the zombies attracted more young viewers.

So in overall viewership, football still rules, but the youngsters, by a small margin, seem to prefer zombies. The lesson is clear: if the upcoming "Walking Dead" spin-off series features zombies battling NFL teams, there will be no stopping it.