Quote:
Originally Posted by dankhank
The fact it gets high ratings is a rather profound reflection on the average American TV viewer
I know it seems like the right thing to say, but this is just wrong. Even though I can't give full verification, we should assume the "average" TV viewer is the amount of viewers it takes to get a show renewed. For a scripted drama, that's typically around a 2.0 in the 18-49 demo, with a 2.2 being the minimum necessary on CBS, at this time. If I wanted to be more generous, I could put shows that get around a 3.0 in the 18-49 demo, and call them filled with average viewers. That would help include shows like NCIS. The problem is that The Walking Dead is CRUSHING all of these "average" renewed shows in the 18-49 demo. The finale had a 6.4 in the 18-49 demo, so what that tells you is that it is not only the average TV viewer who is watching this show, it is many other types of people who do not typically watch network TV shows. A lot of people in this thread watch the show to make fun of it, but there are many who still enjoy it despite also making fun of it (I am one of those).
This is not a terrible show, by any standards (it has very high production value for the budget), but it never lives up to its potential, and much of the dialog is just painful to listen to. It's basically a very mediocre show that has somehow connected with a mass audience (the average viewer, the dumb viewer, the smart viewer, the niche viewer, etc.). There's basically something for everyone to latch on to, and that's what makes it work for this uncommonly large audience in the 18-49 demo. Keep in mind, we aren't even talking about DVR ratings, where this show probably has large expansions in audience that we never hear about. During the finale night, the episode was on at some point in a way that could be measured in approximately 9.4 percent of all households that have television sets, despite only 70 percent of households with TV sets having AMC. That is mindblowing when you think about it.
As a final note about that, what's even more impressive is that it crushes all network TV despite being available in 30 percent fewer homes. This show is the epitome of an aberration in typical TV viewing habits, so blaming it on the average American TV viewer just doesn't really fly.