WALKING DEAD Returns to Record Ratings, ARROW Renewed

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The Walking Dead returned to AMC Sunday night for its midseason premiere, and set more viewership records: 12.3 million viewers and a 6.1 rating in adults 18-49, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Both numbers are the highest in show history. As EW points out, that performance was against the CBS broadcast of the Grammys, and is just one million fewer total viewers than last week's — while outperforming that show in the coveted 18-49 demo.

Also impressive; That demo rating is the biggest, ever, for a basic cable series, and on average season three of The Walking Dead is outperforming network standouts , and in viewers 18-49.

In more good news for fans of TV shows based on comic books, The CW has renewed Arrow — the network's most-watched show — for a second season. Fellow CW genre dramas and <i>The Vampire Diaries also got early pickups.

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