Breaking Bad Return Sets Series Ratings Record

Breaking Bad made a return to AMC last night with an episode as triumphant as Walt and Jesse's meth-selling operation:

"Blood Money" garnered 5.9 million total viewers, making it the most-watched installment in series history. That figure represents an incredible 102% increase over last summer's opener and, even more impressive, over half those viewers were in the advertiser-friendly demographic of 18-49 years old.

Elsewhere on the network, the Low Winter Sun premiere pulled in 2.5 million viewers, while Hell on Wheels returned with a two-hour season three premiere that resulted in the same number, up 2% from the season two premiere and double AMC’s Saturday prime time average.

“We are so pleased and gratified by viewer response to a historic four-premiere weekend on AMC,” said AMC’s president and general manager, Charlie Collier. “For Breaking Bad to continue to deliver record-setting ratings in its fifth and final season is remarkable. Our new series, Low Winter Sun, is off to a strong start, and we have successfully launched another after-show in Talking Bad, which will super-serve Breaking Bad fans all the way through these final episodes. On Saturday, we also launched another night of original programming on AMC with Hell on Wheels, doubling our prime time average on Saturday nights, even before time shifting, and delivering the network’s highest Saturday night rating all year.”

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