( CNN ) -- AMC killed it for some fans of `` The Walking Dead . '' The network posted a # RIP photo on social media after the East Coast airing of the series ' midseason finale , revealing the death of a main character . Fans who had yet to watch the show were incensed . On Monday , AMC posted an apology to viewers on the show 's official Facebook page . `` We heard your feedback to last night 's post , and we 're sorry , '' the post read . `` With zero negative intent , we jumped the gun and put up a spoiler . Please know we 're going to work to ensure that , in the future , possible spoilers by official AMC social feeds are killed before they can infect , certainly before the West Coast ( U.S. ) broadcast of The Walking Dead . As always , thank you for watching , and keep the comments coming . We appreciate all of your support . # RIPSpoiler '' The apology was met with comments ranging from `` No need to apologize '' to `` You know ... you could make up for it with a new sneak peek from February ... .. '' The spoiler did n't hurt the ratings , however : 14.8 million viewers , a 23 % increase from last season . According to Forbes , `` The Walking Dead '' took over social media during Sunday 's episode , with a 238 % increase in mentions over the prior week . `` The RIP hashtag specific to the episode was used by nine percent of people engaging on social media ( Sunday ) night , and three percent admitted that they cried because a character on the show cried , '' Forbes reported. `` 'The Walking Dead ' has officially made the zombie genre emotional . '' The series returns on February 8 .
AMC posted a spoiler after Sunday 's airing of the show . Fans were angry that a character death was revealed . On Monday the network apologized .