Sunday night saw the beginning of the end on the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men and it also saw things pretty much stay the same. The Season 7 midseason return drew 2.3 million viewers and 1 million viewers in adults 18-49 and 1.2 million among adults 25-54 according to Nielsen.
That’s even with the 2.3 million who watched the Season 7 premiere on April 13 last year. In what was the Matthew Weiner-created show’s lowest debut ever, that season opener also pulled in 1 million viewers among the 18-49s and 1.1 million among adults 25-54. While matching total viewership and the 18-49 demo, the midseason return saw a 6% rise among the 25-54 demo. The April 5 self-promoted “end of an era” was up 21% from the 1.9 million who watched the Season 7 midseason finale on May 25, 2014. The first and last Mad Men midseason finale had 854,000 watching in adults 18-49 and 956,000 watching in 25-54.
AMC has not released any Live+Same Day numbers for Sunday’s midseason opener. Instead they are waiting for the Live+3 results for the DVR-friendly upmarket series. They are certainly numbers worth paying attention to when we get them: Despite the fact it was the lowest-rated season debut since the second cycle in 2008, the Season 7 premiere went up 62% in Live+3. The Season 7 midseason finale of last May saw Mad Men leap up 87% in total viewership and a very impressive 116% among the 18-49 demo in Live+3 numbers. So, on a very crowded Easter Sunday this year, how will Don Draper and the gang fare next?
The series finale of Mad Men is May 17.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.