“Mad Men” unexpectedly returned to lower ratings*. The seventh and final season of the AMC series took a dip in its premiere, drawing only 2.3 million viewers or dropping 1.1 million from last season’s premiere.

    The audience number is the lowest for the show’s season opener since the second season premiere on July 27, 2008.

    “Sharing a Sunday night premiere episode of ‘Mad Men’ on AMC is a uniquely satisfying experience as a fan, and something we never take for granted as a network. Congratulations and thank you to Matthew Weiner and his remarkable team, both on-air and off, for, once again, treating us all to the rarest of entertainment air,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “We happily welcome back ‘Mad Men.’”

    It should be noted though that on Sunday, the MTV Movie Awards ran across multiple Viacom nets. Meanwhile, “Game of Thrones” which aired an hour earlier than “Mad Men” was still steady, pulling in 6.3 million viewers, which marked the second most watched episode ever for the HBO series.(SD-Agencies)