The Walking Dead and The Flash had strong season debuts this week in the U.K., with the AMC zombie drama giving Fox U.K. its biggest-ever season launch audience.
Fox said that 1.43 million tuned in for the season 7 launch of The Walking Dead to find out who Negan’s victim or victims were. That was up 59 percent from the season six opener’s audience over the first 24 hours and put it on track to becoming “the highest-rated show on the channel in its 14-year history.”
The early data includes a 2:30 a.m. London time simulcast of the season debut and the show’s traditional Monday night U.K. slots at 9 p.m. and 11:25 p.m.
Fox Networks Group is the exclusive international home of The Walking Dead, airing the show in 125-plus markets around the world.
“Since its launch, this global phenomenon has continued to increase its audience year on year,” said Jeff Ford, U.K. managing director, Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa, calling it “the number 1 TV show in the world.”
Meanwhile, The CW’s The Flash returned to Sky 1 for its third season on Tuesday, also drawing a crowd.
“3rd season of #TheFlash launched on Sky1 in UK with strong 502.2k/2.4% at 8pm, well above slot benchmark,” overnights.tv tweeted.
In its U.K. debut in October 2014, the hit show drew an audience of 629,200 viewers for a share of 2.9 percent of U.K. homes watching TV at the time.
