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“The Walking Dead” Season 9 was supposed to act as a major milestone for the show, turning things around with actual good pacing and plot. Reviews for the first three episodes showcased ahead of the official premiere were initially encouraging. Unfortunately, it would seem that the damage done by the last two seasons was too great. This season’s premiere collapsed to levels rivaled only by the first.
It would appear that not even positive reviews from nearly every noteworthy publication were enough to convince viewers to give “The Walking Dead” Season 9 a chance. The season premiere showed numbers that would make the pilot episode blush. It only drew in around 6.08 million viewers, Forbes reports, which is a pittance compared to the figures that the show usually hits.
In comparison, season 8 of the zombie drama saw 11.44 million viewers tuning in to watch who was going to get killed next. Looking at that number, “The Walking Dead” Season 9 appears to be in for quite the bumpy road. As for why so few people watched the premiere, there are actually a variety of factors to consider.
One is the matter of live viewership not being the same as in the past, with online streaming gaining steam. Unfortunately, the biggest and most consequential factor is still the disappointment by fans over the last two seasons of the series. The backlash from the faction wars has basically impacted “The Walking Dead” Season 9 in the worst ways.
Just to pour salt into the wounds, Digital Spy compared the premiere of “The Walking Dead” Season 9 to that of “Doctor Who” Season 11. While the former absolutely flopped, the latter saw record highs in terms of rating numbers. The publication even suggested that the zombie series could have used some Jodie Whittaker.
For those who are still interested, “The Walking Dead” Season 9 airs at 9 p.m. every Sunday on AMC. Perhaps the show can still turn things around once fans see how much it has changed.
