Historic return for AMC's 'The Walking Dead' in Nielsen's TV ratings

The zombies really know how to make an entrance.

AMC's "The Walking Dead" returned with an audience of 17.29 million people on Sunday. The Nielsen Company said that's a record for the series and, in fact, for any non-sports event on basic cable. It was easily the most-watched scripted series of the season among youthful viewers and lost only to "NCIS" for the overall crown last week.

Five of the 10 most popular programs on TV last week were either football games or football highlights.

The CW network had a strong week, with the premiere of its adventure series "Flash" reaching 4.8 million viewers.