No one really knows how many people watched “Yellowstone” return on Sunday night.
CBS says their 10pm showing brought in 5.4 million fans. Paramount Global says that including CBS and the Paramount network, the total was 16.4 million.
There were a lot of problems involved. A lot of people had no idea where to watch the show, or at what time.
And then, more said they tuned out at the beginning when Kevin Costner’s John Dutton was found — presumably — dead.
Will they come back? The second week ratings are more important, actually, although at this point “Yellowstone” has made its money for CBS and Paramount. These last 8 episodes are just play offs.
The series is streaming, and on Amazon.com for $2.99. We’ll see what happens this coming Sunday. But 5.4 million is low but on a par with “The Equalizer,” which preceded it at 9pm. “Yellowstone” will not air the rest of its episodes on CBS, just on the Paramount Network.