AMC Orders a Fifth Season of ‘The Walking Dead'

“The Walking Dead,” the zombie apocalypse drama that is more popular than anything else on AMC (and most other channels, for that matter), will continue for at least a fifth season, the channel said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the AMC president, Charlie Collier, called news of the fifth season “one of the most anti-climactic renewal announcements ever.” That's because “The Walking Dead” is the envy of the television industry, having hit a new ratings high of 20 million viewers at the beginning of its fourth season earlier this month.

Mr. Collier noted that the season premiere “became the biggest non-sports telecast in cable history.” The second and third episodes of the season are expected to rate almost as highly once on-demand viewership is added up.

AMC did not say when the fifth season would start, but all the seasons to date have had their premieres in October, timed to Halloween. The channel said that Scott Gimple, who became showrunner at the start of the fourth season, would remain in charge during the fifth season.

The renewal is especially significant for AMC because one of its other tentpole dramas, “Breaking Bad,” came to an end last month, and another series, “Mad Men,” is scheduled to end in 2015. The channel, hoping to capitalize on the momentum it has, is developing loosely connected spinoffs for both “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.”