The Walking Dead Season 4 is approaching, and people are trying to predict how huge the season premiere will be. Will viewership for The Walking Dead Season 4 premiere set a new record for the show? Will it set a new record for cable? Actually, I see it as impossible to predict as there are way too many factors involved this year.
The Walking Dead Season 4 Premiere Will be HUGE
Yes, The Walking Dead Season 4 premiere will be huge. How huge will be determined by certain factors listed below.
Should there be cannibals on The Walking Dead?
Season 4 Hump
The fourth season of a show is often called a “hump season.” At this point, most shows have had a declarable shark jump, but not so (that we can tell) with The Walking Dead. There are very few shows which have had a larger fourth season than third season. One easy example would be The X-Files. Even The Big Bang Theory has a drop from the third season to the fourth. We have to consider that most shows have a fall-off in viewership after the third season.
Fan Dedication
The Walking Dead should be considered with shows such as The X-Files because both shows have/had very dedicated fans who wanted to know everything possible about the show and refused to miss a week due to their dedication and the dedication of those who they talk to who also watch the show. We will see the dedication of the “deadheads” during the The Walking Dead Season 4 premiere. They will be the core audience which AMC will attempt to build on. The number of dedicated fans increases with every marathon of the show, so AMC can pad the premiere numbers a little more with a strong marathon in the upcoming weeks.
Market Promotion
The more marketing AMC does going into the premiere, the bigger it will be. AMC and Image Comics have done great jobs so far in promoting the show. If they let up in the next eight weeks or so, the season premiere will be lacking.
The BIG Wild Card
The wild card which prevents us from being able to say how HUGE The Walking Dead Season 4 premiere will be is the third season finale. It was lacking in closure since The Governor is still alive and it did not give us a cliffhanger which would make us tune in this October. Rick simply letting in a bunch of old people and children did not hold a drop next to some of the cliffhangers the show has become notorious for in the past. Some disappointed fans will not be back next season. How many are disappointed enough to stay away is left to be seen.
