America’s favorite show, Yellowstone can’t, won’t be stopped
Like a wrecking ball wearing a Stetson, Yellowstone smashed through American popular culture with a massive premiere
Star Wars, The Lord Of The Rings, and Game Of Thrones might be the most discussed, analyzed, and debated shows online, but they’re nothing compared to the Dutton Dynasty. Yellowstone returned last night, giving Paramount Network the bump it needed to remind the rest of our fractured media landscape that Andor can’t compete with Kevin Costner in a 10-gallon hat.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, more than 12 million eager viewers ate up Taylor Sheridan’s cowboy caviar, thanks to numerous simultaneous broadcasts across streaming and cable. THR continues:
Yellowstone wrestled up 8.8 million viewers in its first airing on the Paramount Network (up 10 percent from season 4). That number grew to 10.3 million viewers when adding in simulcast airings on CMT, TV Land, and Pop. Then the figure climbed to 12.1 million when adding in encore telecasts.
This would already be impressive, especially compared to all the ink spilled over House Of The Dragon’s 10-million viewer premiere or how Disney is begging people to watch the first Star Wars thing in years that fans unequivocally enjoy. But Yellowstone also saw impressive growth across all demographics. Seemingly answering the question on everyone’s mind (“Who the hell is watching this show?”), it turns out that everyone is watching this show, particularly among the key demographics Gen Z and millennials. There was a 52% increase among viewers aged 18 to 34, so that should calm down all the commenters declaring Yellowstone a Baby Boomer haven. As it turns out, young people are willing to take a break from TikTok to check in on what Beth Dutton is up to (or, more realistically, Cole Hauser remains a magnet for youthful viewers).
It’s kind of inconceivable to remember where Paramount stood last year, releasing anonymous Mark Whalberg vehicles to zero fanfare. Now, they have the biggest film and television show of the year, and both are devoid of magical powers—if you subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Tom Cruise doesn’t have magical powers. So there’s room for other genres in the media landscape, and even if they aren’t all to our tastes, it’s nice to see something even remotely different breaking through.