Tons of People Watched 'Yellowstone' CBS Premiere, TV Ratings Reveal

Yellowstone is proving to be a powerhouse on broadcast TV. More than five years after making its Paramount Network debut, the Kevin Costner-starring western drama made its broadcast debut on CBS on Sunday, Sept. 17, bringing with it some massive ratings.

The CBS premiere of the Paramount Network hit, which aired after 60 Minutes, drew in 6.56 million viewers, according to Deadline. Those numbers not only marked a substantial 132% increase from the premiere episode's original Paramount Network audience of 2.8 million viewers back in 2018, but also made the episode the top entertainment program of the week, according to fast nationals from Nielsen. The debut, which ran from approximately 8:50 to 10:49 p.m., also marked the largest audience for a scripted series on the broadcast networks since the May season finale of NCIS. Sunday's Yellowstone episode scored an early 0.9 rating among adults 25-54. Since these are early numbers, CBS is expecting to see an increase, predicting that the viewership will rise to 6.82 million and the rating will jump to 1.0 when out-of-home viewing is included.

Taylor Sheridan's mega-hit is currently headlining CBS' fall lineup. Although Yellowstone is a Paramount Network series, it was announced in June that the show would air episodes in order, beginning with the series premiere, on CBS alongside other titles from within the Paramount umbrella. The move came as an effort to fill out CBS' fall lineup amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Yellowstone replaced The Equalizer at 9 p.m., with its broadcast debut seeing an 11% increase over the premiere night for The Equalizer and East New York last year.

Yellowstone's move to broadcast TV comes as the show prepares for its final episodes. In May, Paramount Network announced the drama will conclude with its fifth and final season. The hit series premiered in June 2018 and stars Costner as John Dutton, a sixth-generation patriarch of the Dutton family who owns the largest ranch in the United States. Yellowstone also stars Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Kelsey Asbille, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Brecken Merrill, Jefferson White, Forrie Smith, Denim Richards, Ian Bohen, Finn Little, Ryan Bingham, and Gil Birmingham.

While Yellowstone is ending, there are already several spinoffs – including 1883 and 1923 – and a new spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey is in the works. The second half of Yellowstone Season 5 does not have a premiere date. Past episodes of the series will continue to air in order, with two episodes per week except on NFL doubleheader nights, on CBS on Sundays.