Since the episode “Days Gone By” aired on Oct. 31, 2010, “The Walking Dead” has been one of the top scripted shows on cable television. As the original “The Walking Dead” series is coming to an end, AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) is continuing to hinge its future success on the franchise.
What Happened: AMC Networks announced this week a new "The Walking Dead" spinoff, “Isle of the Dead.” It will star Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Maggie and Negan characters, respectively.
A six-episode first season has been greenlit and the show will premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2023.
The new spinoff follows a similar announcement that popular series characters Carol and Daryl would be getting their own new series in "The Walking Dead" universe set to premiere in 2023.
"The Walking Dead" franchise also had a 20-episode spinoff “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” which aired in 2020 and 2021.
An anthology series called “Tales of The Walking Dead” is planned for a mid-2022 release, providing storylines on individual characters from the franchise.
The franchise will also hit the big screen with a trio of movies planned to star Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. The movies are being done in partnership with Universal, a unit of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA).
"The Walking Dead" is currently airing its final 11th season on AMC and AMC+.
The franchise’s first spinoff, “Fear the Walking Dead,” premiered in 2015 and is in its seventh season with an eighth season already greenlit.
Related Link: How AMC Juggernaut ‘The Walking Dead’ Will Live On
Why It’s Important: Extending the popular franchise could help AMC Networks command a placement by cable companies in channel packages and also boost its own direct-to-consumer AMC+ package.
Customers of AMC+ get to view new "The Walking Dead" Season 11 episodes one week before the linear television premiere.
Once a huge ratings juggernaut for AMC Networks, "The Walking Dead" has seen ratings plummet over the past few seasons. Despite this, the show remains one of the highest-rated shows on cable television.
Season 10 of "The Walking Dead" saw an average of 3 million viewers or 5.4 million viewers for live and seven-day viewership. This ranked the show ahead of all scripted shows on cable.
The peak for the franchise was the Season 5 premiere in 2014, which had 17.3 million viewers. The Season 6 finale, which featured Negan in a memorable villain role, marked a turning point according to some and ratings have dropped ever since.
“Fear the Walking Dead” has also seen ratings drop. The show averaged more than 7 million viewers in Season One and hit its lowest average of 1.18 million in Season Six. The Season Seven premiere of the show had 1.09 million viewers.
AMC Price Action: Shares of AMC Networks trade at $37.68 Thursday morning at publication.
The company was spun off from Cablevision in July 2011 and shares traded at $39.85 on July 1, 2011. Shares are down 48% over the past year and down 35% over the past five years.
