Yellowstone, the acclaimed neo-Western drama series that has been the talk of the town on the Paramount Network, made its broadcast debut on CBS, and boy, did it make some noise. According to a Deadline report, the premiere episode, which aired on a Sunday night, roped in a whopping 6.56 million viewers.
To put that in perspective, when Yellowstone first trotted out on Paramount Network back in 2018, it garnered about 2.8 million viewers. That’s a staggering jump of 132%, but to be honest, with the show’s remarkable popularity and CBS’s broader reach, were we really that surprised?
Now, if you’re thinking, “Well, it’s just one episode,” you better hold on to your cowboy hat for this next bit of news. Yellowstone’s premiere viewership numbers have made it the top entertainment program of the week. Just to compare, this is the largest audience for a scripted series on broadcast networks since the season finale of NCIS in May earlier this year.
What’s impressive is that though the NFL game delayed CBS’s primetime lineup, pushing Yellowstone to start nearly 30 minutes later than scheduled, the show managed to be the fourth most-watched program of the night, only trailing behind the NFL games and the famous reporter-centered investigative show, 60 Minutes.
The success of Yellowstone on CBS was a given, considering the ongoing Hollywood strikes. With the usual scripted programming on an indefinite hold, CBS and many other TV networks have been forced to adjust their schedules and pack their lineup of shows with reruns and reality series.
While it’s highly likely that past seasons of Yellowstone will continue to thrive in CBS reruns, the show’s future hangs in the balance. The primary source of this uncertainty is none other than star Kevin Costner, who has become quite a headache for the show’s producers in recent months.
Following the release of Part 1 of Season 5, reports started circulating about clashes between Costner and the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan. To make matters worse, insiders revealed that the 68-year-old actor wasn’t holding up his end of the contract. Predictably, this discord resulted in Costner parting ways with the Yellowstone production.
Fortunately, Sheridan had foreseen such a scenario and devised a contingency plan. He birthed a new Yellowstone spin-off, featuring True Detective star Matthew McConaughey. The aim was for this new series to run in parallel with the flagship show or potentially replace it if Costner’s departure became inevitable.
Yellowstone’s fifth season will mark the series finale, but at the time of writing, there’s been no word on the premiere date for Part 2. We will keep you updated as further information about Yellowstone becomes available.
