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Yikes! Horror is a hit on cable.

'Walking Dead' and 'American Horror Story' set new records

By Toni Fitzgerald

October 25, 2012

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Credit AMC and FX for some brilliant scheduling.

The new seasons of horror-themed shows “The Walking Dead” and “American Horror Story” are scaring up record ratings just days before Halloween.

The rebooted “Horror,” which killed off much of its cast and launched an entirely new storyline this season, debuted to a series-best 3.85 million total viewers last Wednesday at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen.

The FX drama was up 22 percent from its first-season premiere last fall. It also averaged 2.78 million adults 18-49, ranking fifth on cable for the week.

AMC’s “Dead” drew 9.6 million total viewers Sunday at 9 p.m., down from the previous week’s record 10.9 million viewers, the best for any cable drama series in history, but still easily the week’s No. 1 entertainment show on cable.

“Dead” averaged 6.5 million 18-49s, finishing just behind ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” for the week.

More impressively, it outdrew every drama on broadcast last week in the demo, the second straight week that it has finish as television’s top drama program.

Certainly some of the credit for the shows’ hot starts goes to timing. It’s the time of year when people crave scary stuff, like horror movies and haunted houses.

But “Dead” and “Horror’s” success is also due to their creative strength. It’s not enough just to serve up a scary TV show this time of year; it has to be something compelling if you’re going to steal viewers away from broadcast at this time of year, when there’s so much new content on the Big Four.

In three seasons “Dead” has sparked its own subculture, complete with weekly podcasts, an upcoming magazine and a talk show airing after each episode on AMC, “Talking Dead,” in which the plotlines get broken down.

And “Horror” earned a boatload of Emmy nominations last summer, becoming the first FX show to win an acting award since “The Shield.”

***

In cable ratings for the week ended Oct. 21:

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

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

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

Top five cable news programs (total viewers): 1 Fox News Channel's "Presidential Debate" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.); 2. Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" (Tuesday, 10:39 p.m.); 3. CNN's "2nd Presidential Debate 2012 (Tuesday, 9:02 p.m.); 4. CNN's "Debate Night in America" (Thursday, 10:39 p.m.); 5. Fox News Channel's "Hannity" (Tuesday, 11:10 p.m.)

Top movie (18-49s): No movie during the week was among the top 50 among 18-49s.

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN's "NFL Football: Denver/San Diego" (Monday, 8:30 p.m.) 12.84 million.

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: ESPN's "NFL Football: Denver/San Diego" (Monday, 8:30 p.m.); AMC's "The Walking Dead" (Sunday, 9 p.m.); NFL Network's "NFL Football: Seahawks vs. 49ers" (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.); FX's "Sons of Anarchy" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.); CNN's "2nd Presidential Debate 2012" (Tuesday, 9:02 p.m.); CNN's "Debate Night in America" (Tuesday, 10:39 p.m.).

Show on the rise: FX's "American Horror Story," Wednesday, 10 p.m. The season two premiere averaged 3.85 million total viewers, up 22 percent from the first-season premiere.

Show on the decline: Comedy Central's "South Park" Wednesday, 10 p.m. The animated comedy averaged 1.01 million total viewers, down 17 percent from 1.21 million the previous week.

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked on Total Viewers Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	Primetime		Total Day
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	FOXN	3560	NICK	1747
2	ESPN	2646	FOXN	1661
3	USA	2378	DSNY	1463
4	TBSC	2277	ADSM*	1338
5	DSNY	2207	ESPN	1257
6	HIST	1608	USA	1151
7	ADSM	1581	TOON	1040
8	MSNB	1437	NAN *	993
9	AMC	1419	TBSC	982
10	FX	1407	TNT	927
11	AEN	1399	HIST	868
12	TNT	1361	AEN	771
13	FAM	1252	MSNB	695
14	TLC	1243	FX	689
15	NAN	1180	HGTV	648
16	SYFY	1153	FAM	638
17	HGTV	1144	AMC	604
18	CNN	1081	FOOD	583
19	FOOD	1070	TVLD	564
20	DISC	1051	TLC	560
21	NFLN	1008	ID	545
22	TRU	927	DISC	540
23	LIF	867	CMDY	513
24	CMDY	847	SYFY	508
25	TVLD	804	CNN	503
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS Ranked on Total Viewers Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	Program	Net	(000)
1	Denver/San Diego	ESPN	12841
2	Presidential Debate	FOXN	11073
3	On The Record with Greta Van Susteren	FOXN	9988
4	Walking Dead	AMC	9547
5	2012 – Seahawks vs. 49ers	NFLN	7023
6	ALCS NY Yankees/Detroit Game 3	TBSC	6180
7	2nd Presidential Debate 2012	CNN	5803
8	Debate Night In America	CNN	5514
9	Hannity	FOXN	5321
10	ALCS NY Yankees/Detroit Game 4	TBSC	5251
11	Major Crimes	TNT	5129
12	Debate	MSNB	4911
13	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	4775
14	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	4411
15	Alabama/Tennessee	ESPN	4223
16	LSU/Texas A&M	ESPN	4176
17	WWE Raw	USA	4067
18	Sons Of Anarchy	FX	4032
19	WWE Raw	USA	4013
20	Hannity	FOXN	3928
21	NASCAR Sprint Cup	ESPN	3897
22	WWE Raw	USA	3886
23	Debate Night In America	CNN	3871
24	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	3865
25	Duck Dynasty	AEN	3861
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-34 Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	615	ADSM*	530
2	ADSM	551	ESPN	345
3	FX	546	NICK	331
4	TBSC	497	NAN *	296
5	AMC	451	FX	238
6	USA	423	DSNY	232
7	FAM	358	TBSC	232
8	CMDY	339	TOON	226
9	MTV	326	USA	217
10	AEN	277	CMDY	209
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-34 Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Walking Dead	AMC	3929
2	Denver/San Diego	ESPN	3128
3	2012 – Seahawks vs. 49ers	NFLN	1788
4	American Horror Story	FX	1779
5	Jersey Shore Season 6	MTV	1740
6	2nd Presidential Debate 2012	CNN	1442
7	Sons of Anarchy	FX	1395
8	Debate Night In America	CNN	1255
9	Walking Dead	AMC	1221
10	Jersey Shore Season 6 Aftershow	MTV	1179
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-49 Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	1292	ADSM*	725
2	TBSC	1064	ESPN	662
3	FX	915	NICK	503
4	USA	863	TBSC	469
5	AMC	838	NAN *	456
6	ADSM	772	USA	430
7	FAM	650	FX	410
8	AEN	646	AEN	373
9	FOXN	606	DSNY	370
10	HIST	570	TNT	360
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-49 Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Denver/San Diego	ESPN	6621
2	Walking Dead	AMC	6489
3	2012 – Seahawks vs. 49ers	NFLN	3651
4	Presidential Debate	FOXN	2789
5	American Horror Story	FX	2781
6	Sons of Anarchy	FX	2731
7	2nd Presidential Debate 2012	CNN	2649
8	On The Record with Greta Van Susteren	FOXN	2544
9	ALCS NY Yankees/Detroit Game 3	TBSC	2542
10	Debate Night In America	CNN	2418
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 25-54 Week Ending Oct. 21
	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	1332	ESPN	648
2	TBSC	1081	TBSC	470
3	USA	917	USA	466
4	FOXN	823	ADSM*	453
5	AMC	763	FOXN	405
6	FX	760	TNT	401
7	AEN	703	HIST	396
8	HIST	697	NICK	395
9	FAM	574	AEN	392
10	SYFY	570	NAN *	361
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 25-54 Week Ending Oct. 21
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Denver/San Diego	ESPN	6862
2	Walking Dead	AMC	5513
3	2012 – Seahawks vs. 49ers	NFLN	3838
4	Presidential Debate	FOXN	3450
5	On The Record with Greta Van Susteren	FOXN	3160
6	ALCS NY Yankees/Detroit Game 3	TBSC	2709
7	Sons of Anarchy	FX	2628
8	2nd Presidential Debate 2012	CNN	2607
9	Debate Night In America	CNN	2364
10	Duck Dynasty	AEN	2319
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data