This month’s MVP: ‘Walking Dead’

“The Walking Dead” was cable’s MVP during February.

Not only did the show have the three biggest audiences of the month, but it also drove its network, AMC, to the biggest year-over-year gains in primetime of any top-10 network across virtually every demographic.

AMC had six of the top eight shows during February among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen, and all of them were “Dead”-related.

The top three shows were all original episodes of “Dead,” and all drew at least 7 million viewers in the demo. Underscoring just what a huge hit “Dead” is, by comparison, the No. 4 show of the month, TNT’s NBA All-Star Game, drew 4.5 million viewers in the demo.

AMC also placed two episodes of “Talking Dead,” its post-“Walking Dead” talk show, among the month’s top eight in 18-49s. And a “Dead” repeat ranked sixth.

“Dead”-related programming gave AMC a gigantic boost for the month. It jumped into the top 10 among 18-49s, ranking fourth behind TBS, USA and TNT, up 41 percent over last year to an average 782,000 in primetime.

Among total viewers it also ranked in the top 10, growing 25 percent over last year to 1.44 million viewers and ranking ninth overall.

AMC was also seventh in 18-34s and sixth in 25-54s, up 46 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

“Dead” is one of just a handful of shows that can raise a network’s ratings significantly all by itself. Others on cable include “Sunday Night Football,” which lifts ESPN to No. 1 each fall; TBS’s “The Big Bang Theory,” which boosted the network to first this month in 18-34s and 18-49s despite the fact that it had no top-10 shows; and the late “Jersey Shore,” which cured MTV’s ratings woes for two years.

Broadcast MVPs include NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and Fox’s “American Idol,” which fuel their respective networks during the fall and at midseason.

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In cable ratings for the week ended Feb. 24:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): TBS, USA, History, FX, AMC.

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, Disney Channel, History, TBS, Fox News Channel.

Top five cable news networks in primetime (25-54): Fox News Channel, MSNBC, HLN, CNN, CNBC.

Top five cable news programs (total viewers): 1. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Wednesday, 8 p.m.); 2. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Monday, 8 p.m.); 3. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.); 4. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Thursday, 8 p.m.); 5. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Friday, 8 p.m.).

Top movie (18-49s): No movie during the week made the top 50 programs of the week in 18-49s.

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “College Basketball: Indiana/Michigan State” (Tuesday, 7 p.m.) 3.73 million.

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: AMC’s “The Walking Dead” (Sunday, 9 p.m.); TBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” (Tuesday, 9:30 p.m.).

Show on the rise: SPEED’s “SPEED Center,” Saturday, 4:45 p.m. A special live cut-in featuring coverage of a Nationwide Series crash averaged a 0.95 rating and 1.11 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode of the news show ever.

Show on the decline: AMC’s “Talking Dead,” Sunday, 10 p.m. The “Walking Dead” post-show was No. 3 for the week with 2.38 million viewers 18-49, down 14 percent from the previous week’s 2.77 million. That wasn’t surprising: It aired against ABC’s Academy Awards.

Tags: amc, cable, cable networks, cable news, cable recap, DSNY, episodes, february cable ratings, HIST, million viewers, monthly cable ratings, primetime, ratings, Talking Dead, TBSC, the walking dead, TOP, viewers, walking dead