The hype created by AMC prior to the premiere of 'Fear The Walking Dead,' a new spin-off of its hit zombie series 'The Walking Dead,' seems to have paid rich dividends, as the series created history by drawing the biggest audience for a series debut in cable TV history.

Quoting a report in TV Line, IB Times states that the 90-minute premiere of 'Fear the Walking Dead' was viewed by an incredible 10.1 million audience. The pilot episode scored a 4.7 rating among the highly desirable 18-49 age range, which is a record for any TV series premiere. To comprehend the value of this number, when the original 'The Walking Dead' premiered on Oct. 31, 2010 it only drew 5.3 million viewers and a 2.7 rating in the 18-49 age group. In fact, the premier of 'Fear The Walking Dead' can be compared to 'The Walking Dead' Season 5 finale, which was viewed by an impressive 15.8 million and attained an 8.2 demo score.

Congratulating the cast and crew via Entertainment Weekly, AMC president Charlie Collier said, "Thank you and congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers and the entire cast and crew of 'Fear the Walking Dead.'" Collier further stated, "It is increasingly difficult to evaluate a show's success on night one. 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."

The AMC executive added that everyone involved with the show should actually thank the fans for giving the bold new "companion series" a shot in the first place.

Apparently, considering the viewership numbers, 'Fear the Walking Dead' is a decided hit. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the show hardly received a lukewarm response from critics.

'Fear the Walking Dead' narrates the beginning of the strange outbreak of the zombie apocalypse from 'The Walking Dead.' The show follows an intermingled, but broken family in Los Angeles as they fight their own personal demons with a view to survive the looming end of the world. Now it remains to be seen whether or not 'Fear the Walking Dead' will be able to retain its viewership throughout the next five episodes of Season 1.