‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff ‘1883’ Draws Massive Ratings for Premiere Episode

The first Yellowstone spinoff series 1883 was a massive success for Paramount+ on Sunday. The prequel’s premiere episode was the most-watched original series premiere for the young ViacomCBS streaming platform. 1883 stars country music icons Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as the ancestors of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton.

1883 more than doubled the previous record for the most-watched premiere on Paramount+, ViacomCBS said Tuesday. Until Sunday night, the record was held by the Mayor of Kingstown premiere. Both 1883 and Mayor of Kingstown were created by Taylor Sheridan. ViacomCBS said 1883 was also the “most-social drama series” Sunday night across streaming platforms, citing data from Talkwalker Social Content Ratings. ViacomCBS said more third-party data was to be announced later. Specific viewership numbers for Paramount+ only were not released.

The broadcast of 1883‘s premiere on Paramount Network drew 4.9 million viewers. The episode aired after a new episode of Yellowstone Sunday night. This was the biggest new series premiere on cable since 2015. Overall, the 1883 premiere drew 6.4 million total viewers across the night, including the premiere, simulcast, and encores.

“The results of 1883’s debut are truly phenomenal,” Tanya Giles, Chief Programming Officer, ViacomCBS Streaming, said in a statement. “The day one streaming numbers, coupled with the results of the linear sampling effort and social response from our audience, show the tremendous promise for this series. We look forward to continuing on this epic journey with our subscribers.”

“Getting this show out to audiences in 2021 was an epic undertaking,” 101 Studios CEO David Glasser added. “We were presented with an almost impossible set of circumstances but we achieved our goal in record-breaking fashion. That success is due to the dedication of the unbelievably gifted cast, crew, ViacomCBS and the passionate vision and leadership of Taylor Sheridan. 101 Studios could not be more proud to have worked alongside Taylor to shepherd 1883 into the world.”

1883 follows James and Margaret Dutton (McGraw and Hill) as they travel to Montana, where they will establish the ranch that becomes the gigantic Yellowstone Ranch seen in Yellowstone. Sam Elliott stars as Shea Brennan, who leads the expedition. Isabel May and Audie Rick play James and Margaret’s children Elsa and John. LaMonica Garrett, Mar Rissmann, Eric Nelson, and James Landry Hebert also star. New episodes are released on Paramount+ Sundays. Meanwhile, Yellowstone airs on Paramount Network Sundays at 8 p.m. ET