‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Finale Is a Record-Setter

The final episode of Yellowstone was a record-setter for the Paramount Network.

Last Sunday’s (Dec. 15) finale episode of Season 5 brought more viewers to the channel than any other episode of Yellowstone. Nearly 11.4 million people watched the show on Paramount Network and CMT.

• Season 5, Episode 14 of Yellowstone tied up each character’s storyline, including Beth and Jamie Dutton, who were on a collision course since the very first episode.
• Viewers also learned the fate of John Dutton’s Yellowstone Ranch.
• A rumored Season 6 starring Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser was confirmed by Deadline last week. However, it’s possible that show will be under a different name.

Related: Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 14 Finale Breakdown

This new record-setting data requires some explanation and perhaps an asterisk.

Premiere episodes for both halves of Season 5 brought 15.9 million and 16.4 million viewers respectively (per the Hollywood Reporter), but each aired on eight different networks.

This new data was measured by VideoAmp, not Nielsen, which is in the middle of contract negotiations with Paramount. Variety points out that Nielsen data may still come, and that figures for older episodes were obtained by Nielsen.

Despite those technicalities, the departure of star Kevin Costner and increased criticism on each episode’s scripts for Part 2, the second half of Season 5 averaged 10.3 million viewers during the first night, up from 9.9 million for Part 1.

Most shows would continue to flourish on the network’s streaming arm, but that’s not the case for Yellowstone. The show has an agreement to stream on Peacock after its initial run.

The Direct points out that it has historically taken three to four months to get there, meaning Season 5, Part 2 will appear in the spring.