AMC seems to be hitting multiple jackpots as The Walking Dead generates a groundbreaking record of viewers for the first episode of the fourth season.

The first installment of the fourth and final season of the zombie suspense spectacle premiered last night, with over 16.1 million viewers eager to watch what awaits Rick Grimes and the rest of his zpmbie apocalypse survival group. According to Entertainment Weekly, TWD season 4, episode 1 was the biggest fall premiere in terms of viewers among all shows that premiered on Sunday.

This is not the first time AMC experienced such massive success with their shows. The television brand is known for housing two of the most highly-rated and watched series of all time, Mad Men and the recently-concluded, Breaking Bad.

In the new episode, a whole lot of new characters inside the prison join the group of survivors seen in last season's finale: new girls, new muscle, and new kids. The characters adjust to the growing number of people inside the prison, and every scene is worth cringing for as zombies multiply and attack at much unexpected moments.

AMC's president Charlie Coller expressed his gratitude towards the show's undying fans (pun intended).

"Sincere thanks to the fans, who have welcomed The Walking Dead back for its fourth season with the highest-rated episode in the show's history," said Collier in a report posted by EW.

The show's accomplishment in the United States reflects equal excitement from die-hard zombie fans all over the world.  The website TorrentFreak.com, a website known to track illegal downloading activity using peer-to-peer torrents, has reported that The Walking Dead was "pirated" over 500,000 by those who cannot watch the show in AMC.

Just hours after The Walking Dead premiered in the United States, its "torrent" became readily available to fans in over 125 countries, with a majority of downloaders bizarrely coming from the United States.

"Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that 16 hours after the first episode appeared online more than half a million people had grabbed a copy through one of many torrent sites. This is more than last year's season premiere, despite the legal viewing options." reports TorrentFreak as posted by BroadwayWorld.

The show's success is only expected to grow with next week's premiere, and fans of The Walking Dead are definitely in for a gory and suspense-ridden ride all throughout fall.