The Walking Dead Gets Renewed for Season Three

NEW YORK: AMC has ordered a third season of The Walking Dead, which is currently drawing more adults in the 18-to-49 demo in its second season than any other basic cable drama in television history, and continues to break records with its international rollout.

"Today we are pleased to announce that ‘the dead shall live’ as we proudly renew The Walking Dead for a third season on AMC and, globally, with our terrific partners at Fox International Channels," said Charlie Collier, AMC’s president. “We are thankful for everyone’s contribution in front of and behind the camera as we continue to make ‘The Walking Dead’ a unique television experience.”

FOX International Channels (FIC) will once again be the international broadcasting partner for the series with Entertainment One continuing to distribute in non-FIC markets. FIC brought the show’s second season to debut in 122 countries across Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The show was the highest rated program on pay TV of the night in most of FIC’s major markets. In the U.K. on FX, the launch episode drew 693,300 total pay viewers. In Spain on FOX, the debut delivered the best ratings in the 18-to-49 segment in the network’s ten-year lifespan. FOX channels in Mexico, Colombia and Italy had similar success. Overall with its international rollout, the show’s second-season debut delivered an estimated average of 2.0 rating across all meter markets, and delivered 10 million total pay TV viewers across key demos.

“The Walking Dead has gone from phenomenon to pandemic,” commented Hernan Lopez, the CEO of FIC. “The numbers that came in this week combined with the astounding launch results in the US tell us that the virus is now out of control.”

“Partnering with AMC on The Walking Dead took some guts,” added Sharon Tal Yguado, the senior VP of scripted programming at FIC. “But at the same time was the easiest programming decision we ever made. It’s rare to come across a groundbreaking TV project that is also attached to some of the best talent in town. The Walking Dead was treated as a global event since day one and not only changed the traditional TV model but also changed our viewers’ TV experience. It is now officially a global addiction with millions of fans around the globe wanting more. We are delighted to give it to them.”