'Fear the Walking Dead' seen by 10.1M viewers, sets ratings record

NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Sunday's 90-minute series debut of Fear the Walking Dead was seen by 10.1 million viewers, making it the No. 1 show premiere in cable-television history, AMC announced.

"Thank you and congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers and the entire cast and crew of Fear the Walking Dead," Charlie Collier, president of AMC and SundanceTV, said in a statement Monday.

"It is increasingly difficult to evaluate a show's success on Night 1. However, we are releasing these live/same-day ratings because Fear the Walking Dead delivered record-breaking numbers that are all the more special in this era of time-shifted viewing and audience fragmentation. To have a companion series to [The Walking Dead] -- the No. 1 show on television -- driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity and pop-cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating. Of course, none of it is possible without the fans, whose passion leads to these remarkable results."

The Los Angeles-set, zombie-apocalypse series co-stars Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Ruben Blades, Mercedes Mason and Lorenzo James Henrie. Season 1 will include six episodes, while a 15-installment, second season has been greenlit for 2016.