Zombies are in! AMC just released the ratings for The Walking Dead‘s season 2 premiere, and they are mighty impressive!

The show pulled in 7.3 million viewers – that’s higher than any other episode to date. From the press release:

Last night’s season two premiere of AMC’s original series, “The Walking Dead” delivered the strongest telecast for any drama in basic cable history. The season two premiere delivered 4.8 million Adults 18-49 and 4.2 million Adults 25-54 shattering a basic cable record set nearly 10 years ago for a single drama telecast. The program delivered a 4.8 HH rating netting 7.3 million total viewers. These results represent a 36% and 38% increase respectively over season one’s series average on AMC. Season one’s series average delivered the most A18-49 viewers for a drama in basic cable history.

4.8 million viewers were in the all-important 18-49 range, which is a new record for basic cable television.