Not unlike the pace of its series, Mad Men has historically been an steady performer for AMC -- strong but never spiking in a similar fashion to Breaking Bad or heavyweight The Walking Dead.
Sunday night saw the series' final season actually dip in its return. The first of the current seven-episode batch took in 2.3 million viewers. That's a 1.1 million drop from the comparable premiere last year and the series' least-watched premiere since the second season in 2008.
The most recent season premiere averaged 3.4 million viewers, more or less even with the prior opener. That episode, the two-hour March 2012 premiere that aired after a 17-month break, was the series biggest to date -- averaging 3.54 million viewers.
Among adults 18-49, Mad Men averaged 1.0 million viewers. To be sure, Mad Men has never been entirely about the ratings. AMC's foray into the scripted arena, it became an instant critical and awards darling. Since The Walking Dead became the network's (and TV's) de facto hit, Mad Men has been very much about the prestige. Even that has waned in recent years, however, with the series losing its Emmy streak to Homeland in 2012. (AMC's Breaking Bad took the top honor in 2013.)
Mad Men had quite a bit of hefty competition as well. Though it aired an hour earlier, Game of Thrones on HBO was likely one of the night's biggest draws. And in addition to the typical Big Four fare, MTV had its annual Movie Awards running across multiple Viacom nets.
Source : http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-mad-men-takes-695940
