Steep drop in ratings as Mad Men begins its final season

Viewers seem to be a little less mad about Mad Men, as the much-honored AMC drama enters the first half of its final season - ratings were down 34 percent on Sunday night for the seventh season premiere.

Viewers seem to be a little less mad about

Mad-Men-creator-Matthew-Weiner-R-with-Mad-Men-actress-Christina-Hendricks-pose-at-the-Governors-Ball-for-the-65th-Primetime-Emmy-Awards-in-Los-Angeles--Reuters-Photo

Mad Men

, as the much-honored AMC drama enters the first half of its final season - ratings were down 34 percent on Sunday night for the seventh season premiere.

Mad Men averaged just 2.3 million viewers at 10 p.m., down from the 3.4 million people who watched the premiere a year ago. It was the lowest premiere for the Emmy-winning drama since its second season, in 2008.

AMC decided to split the final season of Mad Men into two seven-episode runs; the final seven will be saved for next year.

The numbers for

Mad Men

may jump when delayed viewing is counted, but the falloff is unusually sharp for a show that still generates enormous media attention. Last week, AMC introduced a new drama about Revolutionary War spies, Turn, and attracted 2.1 million viewers. That show had 1.9 million this Sunday.

Viewers were much more committed to HBO's top Sunday night show,

Game of Thrones

, which, at 9 p.m., averaged 6.3 million viewers, down only slightly from the 6.6 million who tuned to the premiere a week ago.