Ratings for cable's biggest show are down somewhat from last year, but the show still had enough momentum to easily stay No. 1 for the night, beating the highly competitive "Sunday Night Football."

According to Entertainment Weekly, the audience for "The Walking Dead" can still be classified as gigantic, just not quite as enormous as last year at this time.

Season 6 of the show debuted to 14.6 million viewers, which roughly translates to a 7.43 rating in the key demographic of adults 18 - 49. That number is very impressive by all measures.

But when compared to last season's premiere, the number is still a decline. Last year at this time, Season 5 debuted to 17.3 million viewers and an 8.65 rating among the key demographic.

Deadline reports that such a decline did little to diminish the show's ranking when compared to other Sunday night shows. "Sunday Night Football" was the only thing that even came close to "TWD," and it saw its viewership drop a steep 33 percent from the previous week, meaning "TWD" took some football fans away.

There has also been a little shakeup with the AMC stock price, which saw a drop following the premiere. Although it was not the response the company expected, AMC still responded to the development with hope.

CLSA's Vasily Karasoyov spoke about the stock price drop.

"Really? This isn't good enough?" Karasoyov said, incredulously referencing the 14.6 million viewers the show brought in. He went on to say that the drop in ratings "will prove to be temporary" and has "absolutely no impact on our [earnings] estimates."

A 15 percent drop in ratings may very well prove to be temporary, given that the show has such immense popularity. It is significant that "TWD" took viewers away from the NFL audience, as the sport has enjoyed many decades of ratings dominance.

The show will air for half a season, then come back next winter to air the other half, as it always does. The NFL season will be over by then, and "The Walking Dead" could very well pull of some record-breaking numbers at that time.