New Study Shows The Walking Dead Ratings Declined Because Of Negan – We Got This Covered

Its widely agreed by fans that the weakest era ofThe Walking Deadis season 7/8. Prior to that, viewing figures and fan reception were at an all-time high, but things dipped precipitously on both of these fronts across those two runs. Now that were out of that period though, with the show enjoying an upswing in quality since season 9, its worth looking back to examine what went wrong during those years.

Broadband Choices has analyzed the data and it points to one clear answer: Negan. The site has gathered IMDb ratings from over TWDs runtime and found that theres a very sharp drop in the figures from the point of the season 6 finale, Last Day on Earth in other words, the episode that first featured Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the vindictive leader of the Saviors.

You can take a look at the evidence for yourself in the graph below:

While the white line details individual episode ratings, the red indicates season averages. BC notes that, though the average dropped ever so slightly for the first six seasons, the quality of the show falls of a cliff once Negan arrives. As the site colorfully puts it, Negan was the worst thing to happen to The Walking Dead.

Of course, the season 6 finale is known to be controversial, especially the cliffhanger that left fans guessing which of the survivors would be murdered by Negan. The season 7 premiere, meanwhile, was even more divisive, as it graphically showed Glenn and Abraham being bludgeoned to death by the villains barbed baseball bat Lucille. From thereon in, ratings decreased significantly until season 9 saw noticeably higher figures. You could infer that the reason for that is because Negans role shifted and lessened in importance.

Now, here we are in season 10, and Negans undergoing a complex, quasi-redemptive arc, and fans are clearly much more responsive to it than the years he spent lording it over Rick and company. Well find out if the ratings upswing continues though when The Walking Deadreturns in February.

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New Study Shows The Walking Dead Ratings Declined Because Of Negan - We Got This Covered

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero