It turns out a record number of people wanted to say goodbye to Don Draper—it just took them a few days to get to him. After three days of time-shifted viewing, the series finale of Mad Men on Sunday ended up attracting 4.6 million viewers—an unprecedented amount for the seven-year-old AMC series.
The finale also posted a record high among adults 25-54 (2.5 million).
“While it’s true that AMC’s Mad Men ended with its highest-ever live+3 ratings, we believe the most meaningful metric for this iconic series will turn out to be live+forever,” said AMC President Charlie Collier in a statement. “We hope Matthew Weiner and the many extraordinarily talented people who helped elevate his vision over the last decade are smiling and finding peace like Don Draper at Esalen. This incredible team has produced 92 individual works of art, and we feel so fortunate to forever be known as the birthplace and home of Mad Men. To quote Roger Sterling from the show’s very first episode, ‘I don’t think I have to tell you what you just witnessed here.’”
The finale was also big on Twitter: Draper et al generated nearly 50 million impressions to become the No. 1 series across all of broadcast and cable that night.
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