10.9 million watch 'Walking Dead' premiere

NEW YORK, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- About 10.9 million viewers tuned in for Sunday night's Season 3 premiere of the American zombie drama "The Walking Dead," AMC announced Monday.

The cable network called it the "biggest telecast for any drama series in basic cable history among all viewers."

"Thank you to the fans for making 'The Walking Dead' such a tremendous success. 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," Charlie Collier, president of AMC, said in a statement.

The show stars Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus as leaders of a small band of survivors on the run from flesh-eating zombies.