AMC returned The Walking Dead on Sunday for the second half of its fourth season to 15.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
The 15.8 million is up 28% from last year's mid-season premiere but falls short of the 16.1 million that tuned in for Walking Dead's fourth season premiere in October. The 16.1 million remains the high mark for the AMC series.
Walking Dead faced stiff competition on Sunday night with the Winter Olympics, which drew over 25 million viewers to NBC.
Among adults 18-49, Walking Dead matched its premiere audience of 10.4 million, which stands as the best performance in that demo. It was up 35% over last year's mid-season debut.
Following the premiere, the return of Talking Dead drew 5.9 million total viewers, just under the record 6 million for the after-show's last episode in December. It did draw a record 18-49 audience with 3.9 million, just above the 3.8 million Talking Dead drew in its last telecast.
