Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Sunday Night Ratings: Aretha Franklin Special Beat “The Walking Dead,” Once Powerhouse Cable Show Now Dying on the Vine

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Wait? What? On Sunday night, “The Walking Dead” scored just 4.8 million viewers in the second episode of its new season.

The once formidable cable juggernaut was BEATEN soundly at 9pm by the Aretha Franklin special on CBS. “Aretha! A Grammy Special” garnered an average 5.3 million viewers. Indeed, at 10pm, “Talking Dead” — which is a panel discussion about what just happened to the Zombie hunters — had just 2 million.

You can’t compare subscription cable to network shows. But “Walking Dead” is included on every cable system. You can’t escape AMC. It’s not HBO or Showtime. It’s really no different than another network.

At its zenith, “The Walking Dead” boasted 17 million viewers in 2014-15. I do think it’s time to wrap it up. They’ve lost 12 million fans.

And Aretha: she’s smiling down from heaven.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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