AMC Execs Say THE WALKING DEAD Is Still 'In Early Stages of Life'
Back in 2010, the series The Walking Dead hit TV, and the ratings skyrocketed. AMC saw a viewership like no other cable series had ever seen. While the viewers may have started out as mainly fans of the graphic novel, or just horror fans in general, in the years that followed, word of mouth created a huge fandom for the zombie-apocalypse show. I wrote off the series as something too scary for me, but after watching just the first episode, I was captivated by the characters and their personal storylines. I had to know what was going to happen to these people week to week. I was hooked.
Now we are about to begin our tenth season, and I still love the series. Many characters have come and gone, they have moved, battled, and adapted as always. I love the idea that we are playing the long game with this series. They are going to show us what the world really looks like after the events that shook their world. I have wondered all along how the Nation’s capital looks during the apocalypse. We have gotten to see a south-western perspective in the spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, and we are promised to see films in the future that will address what happened to leader, Rick Grimes, and how he’s associated with the people in the helicopters.
We recently reported on the trailer that was just released for the third series in the Dead universe, which features a bunch of teens who grew up in a sheltered environment amidst the chaos. And now AMC is supporting what we have heard all along, in a conference call between the cable president, Josh Sapan, and Wall Street analysts last week. Sapan asserted that The Walking Dead franchise is “in the early stages of life” and “has many opportunities for growth.”
While stocks have dipped for the franchise, Deadline reports that AMC has future plans that include targeting consumers through streaming services Shudder, Acorn TV, UMC, and Sundance Now. Deadline reported, “the four services are expected to reach 2 million subscribers as a portfolio by the end of 2019 and will be profitable as a group by the end of 2020. By 2024, Sapan said, the four should reach 5 million-7 million subscribers and bring in about $500 million in revenue.”
I hope to see the world of The Walking Dead branch out. But I hope they can do it in a way that keeps us interested. I feel like we’ve lost too many main characters lately, and I know one more who is leaving after this season, so I hope we can be taken to a new place with different stories. I feel like the first several seasons were constantly moving and changing. I am pretty annoyed by this latest villain. We’ve had plenty, so I don’t think she’s anything interesting. I hope they kill her off soon and we get to do something new.
There really are a lot of cool stories left to be told. And I’m really excited to see Rick again. Despite what some fair-weather fans say, I’m hopeful for the future of The Walking Dead. Are you?