The eighth season of AMC's hit zombie series "The Walking Dead" has not been doing good in terms of viewership, as was observed in the continuing decline of fans in the premiere and the second episodes of the show. But, as far as AMC is concerned, the show was still off to a good start and that it would even be extended past the current run.

AMC chief executive officer Josh Sapan revealed that the show will not be going anywhere and might possibly stay on for many years. "We've studied the best. Some have been around 30, 40, 50 years. We have a chance for a lot of life in the franchise," Sapan said about the zombie series.

"The Walking Dead" had been garnering fewer and fewer fans since the start of the eighth season. The AMC official announced that the show had been doing great and that those behind the show had remained "motivated," denouncing theories that the show would not be prolonged given the decrease in the number of people getting hooked on the show. Despite the low stats compared to previous seasons, the season 8 premiere still had more viewers than other shows.

The season 8 premiere of "The Walking Dead" was not as anticipated as the previous seasons. The opener, aired on Oct. 22 and titled "Mercy," got a 5.0 rating, with 11.4 million viewers, while season 7's premiere, aired on Oct. 24, 2016 and titled "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be," had a high 8.4 rating, with 16.4 million viewers.

The second episode of "The Walking Dead" season 8 had not fared well either, as viewership plummeted to a 4.0 low. Though this was the case, it still secured a top spot among other cable shows, followed by "Talking Dead" and "NFL Football."

"The Walking Dead" season 8 airs every Sunday, at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.