With its big-brother “Walking Dead” already owning most (if not all) of the cable TV ratings records, the new spin-off “Fear The Walking Dead” has broken most cable records for a debut show.

Having solidly taken the top debut spot with its first round of ratings on cable shows, it’s coming as no surprise that “Fear The Walking Dead” has now ripped apart the previous Live+3 (live plus online) records. With DVR numbers now in, the August 23 premiere of The Walking Dead spinoff had 13.3 million total viewers and 8.5 million adults 18-49. That jumps it ahead of AMC’s other recent successful and previous record holding spinoff Better Call Saul in the key categories and seals FearTWD as the summer’s top cable offering.

The network’s The Walking Dead companion series got off to a huge start.

For live TV, he 90-minute series premiere of Fear the Walking Dead delivered 10.1 million viewers and an incredible 6.3 rating among adults 18-49.

That makes Fear the biggest series premiere in cable TV history in both total viewers and key demos.

“Thank you and congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers and the entire cast and crew of Fear the Walking Dead,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC. “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. To have a companion series to the #1 show on television driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity and pop cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating. Of course none of it is possible without the fans, whose passion leads to these remarkable results.”

The prequel series tells the story of a Los Angeles family at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.

AMC’s aftershow Talking Dead season 6 preview special delivered 4.2 million viewers.

Back in 2010, the flagship Walking Dead series debuted to 5.4 million viewers—which was considered quite high at the time. The zombie drama’s ratings have grown every year since, with the most recent fifth season premiering to a record 17.3 million viewers last fall. Fear getting such a strong start bodes well for the show’s future, though some critics found the first episode a tad sluggish.

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