The blockbuster zombie apocalypse series showed again that its fanbase runs deep, though sometimes delayed – at least in viewing.

In Live + 3 results, the Season 6 premiere of The Walking Dead on October 11 drew 19.5 million viewers with a staggering 12.84 million among adults 18-49 and a 10.1 rating. On a night where the AMC show faced a down but still strong Sunday Night Football, that’s up 33% and 36% in the categories from what the series based on Robert Kirkman’s comic bit off in Live + Same Day numbers. Or put another way, TWD is up 4.9 million in total viewers from its Live + SD results and saw an increase of 3.4 million in the demo

The early numbers for TWD S6’s premiere were down from both the Season 5 and Season 4 debuts of TWD. On the flipside, not only are the DVR rises greater than what the Season 5 debut saw in Live + 3 last year but today’s numbers once again solidify TWD as the top show on both cable and broadcast among the 18-49s – for an impressive fourth season in a row. Though the 20.8 million viewers that Season 2 debut of Empire got in Live + 3 beat TWD S6 opener, the AMC show was ahead in the demo over the 11.002 million and 8.7 rating the formidable Fox show got.

Last year, coming off a record shattering Season 5 debut on October 12, 2014, TWD then rose 29% among viewers and 32% among the key demo in Live + 3 to smash another record. The delayed viewing results for TWD S5 opener saw 22.372 million total viewers and 14.523 million among the 18-49 – which remains the best result the show has had so far.