Ratings Roundup: Doomed meth kingpin defeats storybook characters, sex researchers, and the odds
As if the whole five-season run of Breaking Bad amounted only to the meticulous construction of a deadly machine that could obliterate the AMC drama’s enemies in a matter of seconds, Walter White went out in a blaze of glory that netted 10.3 million viewers last night. That number, via an AMC press release, gives “Felina” a larger audience than early Nielsen estimates for any non-football program on the broadcast networks, boosting Breaking Bad above Sunday-night juggernauts like Once Upon A Time and The Amazing Race, as well as the cartoon stalwarts of Fox’s Animation Domination. NFL bleed-over gives 60 Minutes a slight edge over the finale, with 10.39 million total viewers, but it’s still close enough to suggest that the roll call at the top of the newsmagazine’s next installment ought to be “I’m Steve Kroft, I’m Lesley Stahl, I’m Morley Safer, I’m Lara Logan, I’m Norah O’Donnell, and I’m Scott Pelley—those stories and blue meth tonight. Bitch.”