Yellowstone Universe's Massive Success Has Put Paramount's Rebranding Plans On Hold

Yellowstone's overwhelming success has put a halt to ViacomCBS's plan to rebrand the Paramount Network as the Paramount Movie Network.

Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner as Dutton patriarch John, alongside Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Gil Birmingham, and Danny Huston.

The show first aired on the Paramount Network in mid-2018, to mixed reviews from reviewers and respectable ratings for the newly rebranded cable channel.

Yellowstone has since flourished with each season, garnering generally positive reviews and reviewers as well as high viewership for the Paramount Network.

The New Paramount: A Movie-Centric Network

A few weeks after Yellowstone Season 4 ended, Deadline reported that ViacomCBS' plan to rebrand Paramount Network as the Paramount Movie Network has been halted, owing in large part to Yellowstone's success.

The original plan was to rename Paramount Network as the Paramount Movie Network, airing 52 original movies per year and one miniseries or scripted series per quarter.

Meghan Hooper White, who joined the firm from A+E Networks as EVP and Head of Original Movies and Limited Series in May 2020 but left a little more than a year later, was in charge of the development of these film projects.

Many people were surprised by the initial Paramount Network rebranding plan, which raised the issue of what the future held for Yellowstone. Despite a rocky start, the show has since blossomed into a huge hit for the network, with Season 3 nearly double the average viewership of the prior two seasons.

Yellowstone's Surprising Success

The popularity of Taylor Sheridan's ranch drama Yellowstone influenced the decision to preserve the Paramount Network. The drama has performed exceptionally well in the ratings for the network.

In a time of diminishing linear viewers, the Season 4 finale set a new series record with 9.3 million total viewers in Live+Same Day numbers, an increase of 81% over the 5.2 million who watched the Season 3 finale. This is said to have been aided by people catching up on the show during the pandemic via NBCUniversal's Peacock, which owns streaming rights to the series.

With this accomplishment, fans can expect Yellowstone to return for Season 5 on the Paramount Network later this year, and possibly more in the future.