ZOMBIES TACKLE FOOTBALL — AND WIN

It may have been Sunday, with 19.65 million viewers watching football on one broadcasting channel and 8.26 million watching baseball on another, but cable-TV ratings released on Monday revealed that a record 16.1 million tuned into the season premiere of The Walking Dead on AMC — with 65 percent of them in the key 18-49 age group, surpassing the number even for the NFL game. That figure easily topped the 12.4 million who viewed the Season 3 finale, the show’s previous high, and last month’s series finale of Breaking Bad, which drew 10 million viewers. Following the drama, some 5.1 million remained tuned in to watch Talking Dead, with the show’s producer, Scott Gimple. Commented New York Times TV writer Bill Carter: “Before Sunday night, every top-rated show this season had been an N.F.L. game. Now zombies are apparently more appealing than quarterbacks.”