‘Gunsmoke’ Is Major Hit on Streaming, Data Reveals

Seventy years later, audiences still can’t get enough of Dodge City, Kansas.

A new streaming report from Nielsen reveals that the classic Western TV series is one of the top ten most-watched acquired series across all streaming services. It comes in at #8, just below heavy hitters like Grey’s Anatomy and The White Lotus and above major names like Spongebob Squarepants and Yellowjackets.

In fact, Gunsmoke was watched for more total minutes in the first week of March than modern hits like Severance and The Traitors.

Why is such an old series taking off on new platforms?

Well, for starters, Gunsmoke is streaming on Paramount+ and Peacock. The subscriber base for both services skew older in age, and Gunsmoke is an older TV show.

Paramount+ is more popular than ever, and it especially was in March—it was the streaming home of NCAA March Madness, which is one of the biggest sporting events all year.

Additionally, one of the biggest shows on Paramount+ is the massively popular Yellowstone—the Taylor Sheridan-helmed Western series starring Kevin Costner that has plenty of Gunsmoke in its DNA. If someone likes Yellowstone or either of its spinoff prequel series, they would probably like Gunsmoke. (Paramount+ might even recommend it to them!)

On top of all that, Gunsmoke has 635 episodes. It’s unlikely that even a viewer who has seen Gunsmoke before has seen every episode, and if they have, they’ll probably go back and rewatch their favorites.

This newfound popularity of Gunsmoke is just another example of how streaming has completely changed the game for television ratings. And if you haven’t yet witnessed Marshall Matt Dillon get his man, there’s no time like the present.