That paves the way for AMC to better monetize The Walking Dead after the cable network said farewell to critical darlings Better Call Saul and Killing Eve. At the same time, the budgets and licensing fees for both spinoffs will also be reduced. Season 10 grew the number of episodes from The Walking Dead’s average of 16 to 22 and the final run featured 24 episodes, creating cost savings for AMC as the network could have easily used those extra episodes for a formal 12th season.Īdditionally, with its announcement of spinoffs, AMC is now able to sell streaming and foreign rights to both series that - shocker - feature fan favorites Reedus, Lauren Cohan (Maggie) and Morgan. Historically, when a TV season is “supersized,” it’s a way for networks to avoid giving cast and crew previously negotiated salary increases. In September 2020, the basic cable network announced that The Walking Dead would end with a supersized 11th season and that two more spinoffs were in the works. With booming costs and softer ratings leading to declining revenue in ad sales, AMC got creative with its crown jewel. “Ad sales was the only way to make money on The Walking Dead at this point,” one source familiar with the show’s financial structure told THR in 2020. Fan favorite Norman Reedus - who easily has top billing after the departures of Lincoln and Gurira - inked a franchise deal with AMC in late 2018 that’s worth between $50 million to $90 million. That’s down more than 10 million from the horrific April 2016 season six finale that introduced Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan and ended with a cliffhanger as viewers had to wait six months to find out that both Yeun and Michael Cudlitz (Abraham) were shockingly killed off.Īs valuable streaming and international rights are tied up, the cost of making The Walking Dead has continued to skyrocket even as viewership has cratered. Those international and streaming rights became increasingly valuable as the series, developed for TV by first showrunner Frank Darabont, took off like a group of survivors fleeing the undead.įast-forward to present day and ratings for The Walking Dead, while still a hit by today’s standards, have tumbled to less than 2 million same-day viewers. 'Daredevil: Born Again' Lands 'Dexter' Director Michael Cuesta (Exclusive)
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