AMC's THE WALKING DEAD Closes Season as No. 1 Show on TV for 4th Year in a Row

"THE WALKING DEAD" closed its sixth season Sunday with a 90-minute finale that delivered 18.4 million viewers and 11.5 million adults 18-49 (9.1 US RTG) in Nielsen live+3 ratings. The episode is expected to generate more than a million additional digital views, and capped a season that again saw "The Walking Dead" as the #1 show on television among adults 18-49, with an average live+3 viewership across the season's 16 episodes of 18 million total viewers, 11.5 million adults 18-49 and 11.3 million adults 25-54.

The "Talking Dead" finale delivered 7.4 million viewers in live+3 ratings, including 4.5 million adults 18-49 (3.5 US RTG) and 4.7 million adults 25-54.

"We know how rare it is to have the #1 show on television for four years running and to share a season six finale on AMC with more than 18 million fans, to say nothing of the passionate and appreciated conversations that followed. So, as we close this season, first and foremost, a heartfelt 'thank you' is on all of our minds," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. "Thank you to everyone who makes 'The Walking Dead' possible, from those working in the Los Angeles-Senoia-New York 'zombie triangle' to our fans around the world. We now put down Lucille for a while and leave the 'at bats' to baseball until our October return."

Key Nielsen Highlights for the finale of "The Walking Dead" (L+3)

Episode 616, 9 p.m., Sunday, April 3
18.4 million viewers, up 30% from live/same day (growth of 4.2 million)
11.5 million Adults 18-49, up 32% from live/same day (growth of 2.8 million)
11.7 million Adults 25-54, up 32% from live/same day (growth of 2.9 million)

Key Nielsen Highlights for the finale of "Talking Dead" (L+3)

Episode 616, 10:33 p.m. Sunday, April 3
7.4 million viewers, up 16% from live/same day (growth of 1.1 million)
4.5 million Adults 18-49, up 15% from live/same day (growth of 595k)
4.7 million Adults 25-54, up 17% from live/same day (growth of 680k)

Current live+3 season average rankers for all of television (cable and broadcast) among adults 18-49

All Telecasts

A18-49 Program Name US AA % (000)

AMC WALKING DEAD 9.1 11,493

NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL 7.5 9,505

FOX EMPIRE 6.7 8,500

CBS NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL 5.7 7,282

CBS BIG BANG THEORY, THE 5.6 7,050

NBC SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK 5.4 6,795

AMC FEAR THE WALKING DEAD 5.2 6,612

ESPN COLL FTBL BOWL STUDIO L 4.8 6,129

ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON L 4.5 5,726

FOX X-FILES 4.3 5,448

Source: Nielsen L+3 (09/21/2015 - 04/03/2016). Excludes repeats, specials. Top 10 Listed. Rank on (000). 2+ TC

Entertainment Only

A18-49 Program Name US AA % (000)

AMC WALKING DEAD 9.1 11,493

FOX EMPIRE 6.7 8,500

CBS BIG BANG THEORY, THE 5.6 7,050

AMC FEAR THE WALKING DEAD 5.2 6,612

FOX X-FILES 4.3 5,448

ABC MODERN FAMILY 3.9 4,945

NBC VOICE 3.7 4,716

ABC GREY'S ANATOMY 3.5 4,447

CBS 60 MINUTES 3.5 4,385

ABC SCANDAL 3.4 4,345

Source: Nielsen L+3 (09/21/2015 - 04/03/2016). Excludes repeats, specials, sports. Top 10 Listed. Rank on (000). 2+ TC

On finale night and across its entire sixth season, "The Walking Dead" was again a major focus of attention in social media on platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

On the day of the season six finale, "The Walking Dead" ranked as the most talked about television show on all three platforms and generated nearly 3 million social engagements on Sunday night. Across the entire season, "The Walking Dead" social content garnered more than 47 million total social engagements during primetime with Twitter and Instagram social engagements seeing double-digit gains of 35% and 55% over the previous year.

Source: ListenFirst Media- DAR, finale/Sunday (4/3/16), Season (2/14-4/3/16 vs. 2/8-3/29/15); *Shareable; week of 3/28/16 (finale week)

About AMC Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade, or creating acclaimed original programming, AMC reigns as the only cable network in history ever to win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row with "Mad Men," and six of the last eight with back-to-back honoree "Breaking Bad." The network boasts the most-watched drama series in basic cable history and the number one show on television among adults 18-49 for the last four years with "The Walking Dead." AMC's current original drama series include "The Walking Dead," "Better Call Saul," "Hell on Wheels," "TURN: Washington's Spies," "Halt and Catch Fire," "Humans," "Fear the Walking Dead," "Into the Badlands" and the forthcoming "The Night Manager," "Feed the Beast," "Preacher" and "The Son." AMC also explores authentic worlds and discussion with original shows like "Talking Dead," "The Making of The Mob," "Comic Book Men" and the upcoming "Ride with Norman Reedus" and "The American West." AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, SundanceTV, BBC America and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.