Entertainment

"The Walking Dead" premiere breaks ratings record

October 17, 2011 / 5:09 PM EDT / CBS/AP

From left, actors Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Jon Bernthal, Melissa Suzanne McBride, Sarah Wayne Callies and Chandler Riggs in a scene from "The Walking Dead." AP/AMC

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - AMC's "The Walking Dead" kicked off its second season with a vengeance, delivering 7.3 million viewers for Sunday night's premiere telecast.

4.8 million of those viewers were in the coveted 18-49 age demographic, which the network said is a record for a basic cable series, according to TVLine.

"The Walking Dead" premiere starts season off with a bang

The premiere also drew 4.2 million viewers in the 25-54 demographic, TVLine reports, another record for a basic cable series.

AMC also reported Monday that the zombie drama went on to boost its total viewership to 11 million viewers for the night's three airings of the 90-minute episode.

This eclipsed the year-ago audience for the series, which emerged as a surprise hit by averaging 5.2 million viewers weekly during that first season.

Based on the popular comic book of the same name, "The Walking Dead" depicts the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse confronted by a group of survivors outside Atlanta. Its cast includes Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal and Sarah Wayne Callies.