‘Yellowstone’ Series Finale Draws a Record 13.1 Million Viewers In L+3, Paramount Says (UPDATED)
UPDATED Dec. 23: “Yellowstone” rode off into the sunset on a ratings high-note.
The series finale of the Paramount Network neo-Western drama has now drawn 13.1 million viewers after three days of viewing, making it the most-watched episode in the show’s history, according to Paramount.
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“Yellowstone” averaged 11.4 million viewers on its Sunday, Dec. 15 airing alone, according to VideoAmp data released by Paramount. The company claims that makes it the most-watched episode in series history, with the finale airing on both Paramount Network and CMT.
Paramount Global is not currently using Nielsen data given the fact the contract between the two companies expired in September. Talks remain ongoing.
According to Nielsen data for Sunday night reviewed by Variety, the episode drew approximately 7.367 million viewers on Paramount Network and 713,000 more on CMT for a total of 8.08 million. The Paramount Network viewership alone was enough to make “Yellowstone” far and away the most-watched scripted show of the night across broadcast and cable.
“Yellowstone” has long been a ratings powerhouse for Paramount Network and the second half of the show’s fifth and final season has been no exception. Paramount previously reported via VideoAmp that the premiere of Season 5B attracted 16.4 million viewers across Paramount Network, CBS, and various other Paramount-owned cable networks that simulcast the episode as well as encore airings. Thus, the claim that the finale was the most-watched episode refers just to episodes airing on Paramount Network (and now CMT) on a Live+Same Day basis without including encores and the like, and also going off of VideoAmp numbers, with past ratings info for the show coming from Nielsen data.
There had been some question about whether or not the finale airing on Sunday was the season finale or series finale, but “Yellowstone” star Kelly Reilly took to social media ahead of the episode airing to confirm that it was in fact the end of the series.
“Hi, I’m so deep into another role at the moment about another land worth fighting for in the UK,” Reilly wrote. “But across the pond, the finale is happening tonight of the show. Whatever the future holds this is the ending of the show we have been making for the past 7 years.”
The finale saw yet another major character death, but also set up the long-rumored spinoff series focused on Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Reilly). Variety‘s full recap of the episode can be read here.
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