AMC announced today that the season 3 premiere of The Walking Dead nabbed a huge series high rating last night.

10.9 million zombie lovers tuned in for its initial airing at 9 PM ET, and by the end of the night 15.2 million had seen the exciting premiere. AMC is quick to note that the episode is the biggest viewer-wise in the series’ history, and “the biggest telecast for any drama series in basic cable history among all viewers.” It was 50% larger than last season’s premiere.

“Thank you to the fans for making ‘The Walking Dead’ such a tremendous success,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “We are honored and humbled that television’s largest adult audience resides on AMC. So many people on both sides of the camera worked tirelessly on this project, and I thank and congratulate each of them for their amazing contribution.”

The press release marking the news also notes that AMC is still not available for Dish customers. We can only imagine how much larger it would’ve been with that potential audience included.

Earlier today we released an extensive recap looking at the episode. Be sure to also check out a preview of this Sunday’s new episode and what lies ahead this season.