After 11 successful seasons, the popular zombie thriller series The Walking Dead is coming to an end. Fans have been waiting for this season for a while – the season 10 finale, along with the entirety of season 11 were delayed due to the pandemic – leaving fans hungry for a conclusion to the story. We took a look at how the final series premiere performed against competitors on the same night, how this season premiere compares to the season 10 premiere (which aired before the pandemic), and the Emotional Reactions fans demonstrated as they start to come to terms with their favorite show coming to an end.

Summary

• The Walking Dead dominated its final season premiere day, ranking first among all TV series in Total Tweets and Emotional Reactions

• While Total Tweets decreased year over year, fan passion increased heavily from Season 10 to Season 11’s premiere

• Emotional Reactions around the Season 11 premiere were overwhelmingly positive, with 98% of Emotional Reactions showing positive commentary

The Walking Dead’s Final Season Premiere Ranked First on its Airing Night

On its premiere night, The Walking Dead’s final season premiere ranked 1st among all programs in generating conversation on Twitter, earning 55K Total Tweets

• The Walking Dead’s final season premiere was also ranked first in generating Emotional Reactions, earning a total of 30K Emotional Reactions on its premiere day

• The Walking Dead’s final season premiere earned a Reaction Rate of 54%, indicating extremely high fan passion during the final season premiere

Despite lower levels of conversation compared to the previous year, fans were heavily more passionate about the final season premiere of The Walking Dead compared to the previous season

While Total Tweets fell 40% season over season, Emotional Reactions remained nearly level, showing that while there was less overall commentary, fans were much more emotionally engaged in the Season 11 premiere.

• The Reaction Rate for the Season 11 Premiere increased 22% compared to the previous season, showing a much more passionate fan base in the final season premiere, despite the season being delayed

Overwhelmingly, fans loved the final season premiere of The Walking Dead

Fans showed overwhelmingly positive Emotional Reactions during the final season premiere of The Walking Dead, with 98% of all Emotional Reactions showing positive commentary. Top Emotional Reactions Include love (46% of all Emotional Reactions), excited (17% of all Emotional Reactions), enjoy (9% of all Emotional Reactions), and funny (5% of all Emotional Reactions).

Verbatims

• Love: “The opening scene of season 11 episode 1 of @WalkingDead_AMC is one the best scenes in the entire history of #TheWalkingDead”

• Excited: “9 more minutes!! 🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️ #TheWalkingDead #TWD #WalkingDead “Acheron: Part 1” 🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️⚠️🧟‍♂️”

• Enjoy: “Really good start to the season here for #TheWalkingDead — and with these new threats and people this final season seems like it’ll be really self-contained.”

• Funny: “Just finished watching the season premier of #TWD I think Negan and Maggie are going to end up having angry, hot sex or they are going to kill each other. 😂”

• Crazy: “IT’S THE WALL OF THE LOST!! And Eugene and Yumiko are wearing commonwealth armor….AND YUMIKO FOUND SOMEONE ON THE WALL!! Her brother Tomi!!😱😱👀👀 #TWD  #TWDFamily  #TheWalkingDead ”