AMC’s The Walking Dead may have had another record setting performance in the ratings for its Season 5 finale, but it did not dominate the social networks as expected. The show slipped to the Number 4 slot in the Nielsen Twitter Ratings (beat out by the iHeart Radio Awards, Kid’s Choice Awards, and Pretty Little Liars), and for the first time this season while airing a new episode it did not top the General Sentiment charts that measure activity across the social networks relating to the live broadcast (it was beat out by Pretty Little Liars). Of course it did top the cable chart of total viewers and a repeat of the prior week’s episode made it to the Number 20 slot, so it scored quite well in the most important categories to the advertisers that pay for commercial time. And with its 8.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic based on the overnights, it blew away everything else on television, so slipping in the social network charts is hardly a concern. And I expect it to continue to perform well when it returns in Fall and also expect the spin-off series–Fear the Walking Dead–to place prominently in these charts when it bows in late summer.
On the broadcast network charts based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic, only one genre entry place in the Top 25–Once Upon A Time–after three showed up there last week. The Last Man on Earth (twice, because it aired two eps) and Agents of SHIELD both fell out, and OUaT slipped notably after it only pulled a 1.7 rating in the demo this last week. All three showed up in the Top 25 which factors in the Live+3 viewing for the prior week, though.
Here is the full look at chart activity for genre shows for the week of March 23rd thru 29th:
| Nielsen Twitter Rankings | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | ||
| The Walking Dead | AMC | 4 | 2 | Down | ||
| Broadcast Networks Top 25 – Ratings 18-49 | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Rating | Prior Week |
| Once Upon A Time | ABC | 22 | 11 | Down | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| Broadcast Networks Top 25 – Total Viewers | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Viewers (MM) | Prior Week |
| Person of Interest | CBS | 12 | n/a | Up | 9.2 | n/a |
| Cable Networks Top 25 – Total Viewers | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Viewers (MM) | Prior Week |
| The Walking Dead | AMC | 1 | 1 | Same | 13.8 | 13.8 |
| The Talking Dead | AMC | 5 | 2 | Down | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| The Walking Dead (R) | AMC | 20 | n/a | Up | 3.4 | n/a |
| General Sentiment – Broadcast Networks Top 25 | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | ||
| Agents of SHIELD | ABC | 6 | 10 | Up | ||
| Once Upon A Time | ABC | 8 | 7 | Down | ||
| The Flash | CW | 10 | 9 | Down | ||
| Supernatural | CW | 11 | 13 | Up | ||
| iZombie | CW | 15 | 14 | Down | ||
| Person of Ineterest | CBS | 23 | n/a | Up | ||
| Forever | ABC | 24 | n/a | Up | ||
| General Sentiment – Cable Channels Top 25 | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | ||
| The Walking Dead | AMC | 2 | 1 | Down | ||
| The Talking Dead | AMC | 4 | 9 | Up | ||
| Prior Week Live+3: | ||||||
| Broadcast Networks Top 25 Live+3 – Ratings 18-49 | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Rating | Prior Week |
| The Last Man on Earth (9PM) | FOX | 14 | 20 | Up | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Once Upon A Time | ABC | 15 | 19 | Up | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Agents of SHIELD | ABC | 18 | n/a | Up | 2.5 | n/a |
| The Last Man on Earth (9:30) | FOX | 21 | 20 | Down | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Broadcast Networks Top 25 Live+3 – Total Viewers | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Viewers (MM) | Prior Week |
| No Genre Entries | ||||||
| Cable Networks Top 25 Live+3 – Ratings 18-49 | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Rating | Prior Week |
| The Walking Dead | AMC | 1 | 1 | Same | 9.4 | 9.8 |
| The Talking Dead | AMC | 2 | 2 | Same | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Cable Networks Top 25 Live+3 – Total Viewers | ||||||
| Series | Network | Rank | Prior Week | Move -ment | Viewers (MM) | Prior Week |
| The Walking Dead | AMC | 1 | 1 | Same | 18.2 | 19.0 |
| The Talking Dead | AMC | 2 | 2 | Same | 7.0 | 7.0 |
Nielsen Twitter Ratings ranked based on the Unique Audience – The total number of distinct Twitter accounts accruing at least one impression of one or more different Tweets ascribed to a TV episode. More info at this link.
General Sentiment tracks activity across the social networks for shows airing new episodes in Prime Time (start times between 8:00 PM and 10:55 PM EST Monday – Saturday and 7:00 PM and 10:55 PM EST on Sunday). This data collected on seven (7) major broadcast networks and 43 cable television networks. More info at this link.
