The Walking Dead Premiere Ratings: Record-Shattering!

It's official: the cable universe belongs to The Walking Dead. All other programs are merely living in it.

The drama's Season 3 premiere was viewed last night by 10.9 million households, a ridiculous 50 percent increase from last year's opener and the highest-rated dramatic episode in basic cable history.

“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,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, in a statement.

Including encores at 10 p.m. and midnight, the premiere brought in 15.2 million viewers. It also garnered 7.2 million viewers among 18-49-year olds. That's simply astounding.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.