The folks at AMC are smart, but it didn’t take a team of brain surgeons to figure out that it might be a good idea to spin a show out of - er, create a companion series to - The Walking Dead, considering the monster ratings that show attracts week in and week out. Look at the success (and time periods filled) by CBS spinning one mega-hit out of another.

AMC on Friday released the full-season live-plus-three day ratings averages for Fear the Walking Dead and it should come as no surprise that the show’s just-completed first season is the highest-rated initial season of any series in cable history across total viewers and key demographics.

The show closed out season one with an average of 11.2 million viewers, 7.3 million adults 18-49 and 7.2 million adults 25-54 in live plus three day viewing, according to Nielsen. The season one finale on Oct. 4, averaged a bit below that with 10.1 million viewers watching, with 6.5 million adults 18-49 and 6.6 million adults 25-54.

Those numbers make Fear the Walking Dead the third-highest rated series debut on television — broadcast or cable — in the key adult demographics since Nielsen began measuring live-plus-three-day viewing in 2007. Cable’s top three all air on AMC: the other two top-ranked debuts are The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul.

“When we set out to launch a companion series to the #1 show on television, there were truly many things to fear, beyond Fear itself. To see this show stand alone, break through and set records as a unique piece of storytelling is very gratifying and a tribute to great creative talent,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios, in a statement.

When the show returns for season two next year, it will have its own version of Talking Dead following it. The after-show will be hosted by Chris Hardwick, who’s really taken this habit of taking to TV to talk about TV shows right after they air and turned it into something. The busy Hardwick, who also hosts Comedy Central’s @midnight and is the CEO of Nerdist Industries among other endeavors, hosts a similar show after The Walking Dead and also hosted Talking Bad, which aired after the final season of Breaking Bad in 2013.

Turns out, America can’t just get enough of zombies. Or of Chris Hardwick. Maybe he’s a zombie?

Photo courtesy of Justina Mintz/AMC

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