'Yellowstone' Season 5 Part 2 Scores Biggest Premiere Night Audience Ever With 16.4 Million Viewers

Yellowstone

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The Season 5 return of "Yellowstone" was big, not just for Paramount Network, but for Paramount Global as a whole. The second half of Season 5 delivered 16.4 million viewers across all of cable and CBS, according to data from VideoAmp. This marked the biggest premiere to date for "Yellowstone."

Overall, the season grew in viewership by 3% from Part 1, which premiered in November of 2022. It's not entirely surprising that there would be an increase since Paramount increased the reach of "Yellowstone" this time around. The 2022 premiere and encores for the first half of Season 5 were available on seven cable networks. In comparison, the premiere and encores for the second half of Season 5 were available across eight cable networks as well as CBS.

The special's linear performance on Paramount Network was not immediately available due to ongoing negotiations between Paramount and Nielsen. VideoAmp data, which the company has been using for viewership measurements in the interim, broken out by network will be available in five to seven days after the episode's Sunday night air date, as is standard to the media measurement company's reporting.

The latest episode of "Yellowstone" naturally debuted on its parent network, Paramount Network. However, the cowboy hit was also simulcast on several other Paramount-owned networks, including CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, Logo Pop and TV Land at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

On many of these networks, this highly anticipated episode was followed by the Season 2 premiere of the Paramount+ original "Lioness" at 9:10 p.m. and then an encore showing of "Yellowstone." The Season 5 episode was also broadcast on CBS at 10 p.m. The above viewership takes all of those showings into account.

It's not surprising that the return of "Yellowstone" would make a big splash. Season 5 of the Western drama first premiered two years ago in November of 2022. However, the six-episode back half of this season was delayed by COVID-19, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and scheduling complications.

This isn't the first time that "Yellowstone" has aired on CBS. In the midst of last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, CBS filled out its fall schedule with the broadcast premiere of the Taylor Sheridan drama. The move proved to be a good one for the network.

The Sept. 17 episode drew 6.83 million viewers and scored a 0.67 rating in the key broadcast demographic among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen. The CBS premiere of "Yellowstone" was also 141% higher in terms of total viewers compared to the show's Season 1 premiere on Paramount Network. The network continued to air the series through January of 2024, showing up to the series' third season.

Another Taylor Sheridan show -- the Sylvester Stallone-starring "Tulsa King" -- aired its first season on CBS this past summer. Though the series did not perform as well as "Yellowstone," it continued Paramount and CBS' streaming-to-broadcast experiment.

The "Yellowstone" ratings coming from VideoAmp rather than Nielsen marks a new shift for the drama's parent company. Paramount Global's partnership with Nielsen was put on hold Oct. 1 due to price hikes that the media corporation said were "inconsistent with the realities of a changing industry."

"Yellowstone" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Paramount Network.

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