As the world waits for the premier of 'The Walking Dead' Season 6, AMC has released a "companion series" entitled, 'Fear the Walking Dead', that shows the life before the apocalypse.
According to deadline.com, the anticipation for its mother ship, 'TWD', has brought 10.1 million viewers to the 'Fear the Walking Dead' premiere episode last Sunday in which the 6.3 million were adults with age ranging from 18- 49 years old. Despite of its success, 'Fear the Walking Dead' was still behind its mother series 'The Walking Dead' which garnered 17.3 million viewers for the season 5 premiere. Also, the season 5 finale has earned a 15.8 million viewers overall. Both 'The Walking Dead' and 'Fear the Walking Dead' were produced by Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert.
The 90- minute premiere episode was also able to surpass the viewership for NFL pre- season game during that Sunday night. In a report by latimes.com [Los Angeles Times], 'Fear the Walking Dead' have reached an all- time high ratings for premiere episodes. The last record was held by "Better Call Saul" which garnered a total of 6.9 million viewers for its debut episode last February. However, 'Fear the Walking Dead' have smashed the records and set a new record to break. It also broke the record of its parent series' pilot episode that gained 5.4 million viewers only.
AMC's president, Charlie Collier said that "It is getting difficult to evaluate a show's success on night one. However, we are releasing these live/same-day ratings because 'Fear the Walking Dead' delivered record-breaking numbers that are all the more special in this era of time-shifted viewing and audience fragmentation. To have a companion series to the No. 1 show on television driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity and pop cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating."
