‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 Hits Huge Ratings Milestone

Sunday’s return to the Dutton Ranch brought plenty of reasons to celebrate. Nearly two years after Taylor Sheridan’s popular modern Western drama last aired a new episode, Yellowstone returned for Season 5B Sunday night, once again smashing ratings records as fans finally learned the fate of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton. Warning: This post contains spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2.

Airing across eight cable networks as well as CBS, the Paramount Network series continued its trend of reaching new ratings milestones. According to data from VideoAmp, per The Wrap, the episode drew in 16.4 million viewers across all of cable and CBS, marking the largest first-night audience in the show’s history. That viewership number was up 3% from Part 1, which premiered in November of 2022 and brought in 15.9 million viewers.

The viewership data, which includes three additional repeats on Paramount Network and CMT, does not include streaming or a further breakdown, including viewership numbers for Paramount Network. For comparison, the Season 5 premiere reached 8.8 million viewers on Paramount Network.

The ratings milestone doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Premiere episodes of Yellowstone have continuously brought in larger numbers every year, and the series has continued to smash ratings since its 2018 premiere. According to Variety, the Season 5 premiere marked an 8% over Season 4.

Co-created by Sheridan alongside John Lindon, Yellowstone debuted in June 2018 and centers around John Dutton, a sixth-generation patriarch of the Dutton family who owns the largest ranch in the United States. The series, which was confirmed to be ending with Season 5 back in May 2023, 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.

Sunday night’s new episode marked the first without Costner, who left the series due to scheduling conflicts with his film saga Horizon. Picking up where Season 5 left off, the episode finally answered the years-long burning question of John’s fate, revealing that he was fatally shot in a murder-for-hire plot. Teasing the remainder of the six-episode Season 5B, director Christina Voros told The Hollywood Reporter, “I think there’s a lot to unravel. There is a map that has to be drawn as to how to move forward, and I think the next episode begins to outline the way that map is drawn.”

New episodes of Yellowstone air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Network.