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.
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