Despite an uptick from the previous week’s episode, The Walking Dead finished its eighth season Sunday with the series’ second lowest-rated finale to date.
According to Variety, in live plus same-day ratings, Sunday’s episode averaged a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49, and 7.9 total viewers. While that represents an increase of 21 percent in the key demographic and 18 percent in total viewers from the April 8 episode. However, the ratings dropped 37 percent in the demo and 30 percent overall from the Season 7 finale.
RELATED: The Walking Dead Season 8 Finale’s Biggest Moments
When viewed as a whole, the eighth season averaged 3.4 and 7.8 million viewers in live plus same-day, down from Season 7.
As with any story about The Walking Dead‘s ratings, this comes with a caveat: Although the AMC drama has experienced a decline in the past few seasons, it remains a ratings juggernaut. The Season 8 finale was still the highest-rated program on Sunday night, even with competition from the ABC News interview with former FBI director James Comey and CBS’s ACM Awards.
Here’s how The Walking Dead‘s season finales stack up:
Season 5 (2015)–8.2 rating, 15.8 million
Season 4 (2014)–8.0 rating, 15.7 million
Season 6 (2016)–6.9 rating, 14.2 million
Season 3 (2013)–6.4 rating, 12.4 million viewers
Season 7 (2017)–5.4 rating, 11.3 million
Season 2 (2012)–4.7 rating, 9 million viewers
Season 8 (2018)–3.4 rating, 7.9 million viewers
Season 1 (2011)–3.0 rating, 6 million viewers
The Walking Dead returns this fall on AMC for its ninth season.
KEEP READING: Walking Dead’s [SPOILER] Actually Survived Survived the Season 8 Finale