AMC’s 90-minute season finale of The Walking Dead’s fifth season on Sunday didn’t set any cable records, but it still drew a finale-best 15.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
The season five capper was inches up from last year’s finale (15.6 million) and fell 9% behind the record 17.3 million for this season’s premiere. Among adults 18-49, Walking Dead drew 10.4 million viewers.
AMC’s live after show Talking Dead did manage to set a new viewership record, drawing 7.5 million viewers despite airing a half-hour later than normal.
Compared with Fox’s breakout hit Empire, Walking Dead’s audience was smaller than what the Fox hit drew for its season finale on March 18, which drew 17.6 million viewers. However, Walking Dead still topped out in the demo with an 8.2 rating compared to Empire’s 6.9 rating.
