CBS Officially Confirms the End of an Era for Yellowstone

One of the biggest television franchises of all time is outgrowing its former limits, as CBS’s Marshals becomes the most-watched show across all television platforms. Kevin Costner led the original series as cattle magnate John Dutton, which ended in 2024 with Season 5 of Yellowstone. Marshals is Yellowstone’s first sequel, with Luke Grimes reprising the role of Kayce Dutton.

Kayce joins the US Marshals in his Yellowstone spinoff, and despite the show being the lowest-rated Yellowstone series on Rotten Tomatoes, it has garnered the most attention. Marshals’ March 1 debut drew 9.52 million viewers, making it the most-watched new scripted series on network TV and Yellowstone’s biggest premiere. Since then, the CBS series has only grown in popularity.

It’s The End Of Yellowstone’s Streaming Era

Image via CBS

Per Variety, Marshals is tracking as the most-watched series across all television, both broadcast and streaming. According to Nielsen’s season-to-date 28-day multi-platform viewership, as shared with CBS, Marshals’ debut has garnered 26.5 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched series of the season, behind Stranger Things’ final season, which amassed 30.6 million viewers over the same time span. The numbers for Marshals put a broadcast show in direct competition with streaming giants, proving the end of Yellowstone’s former limitations while it remains a television institution. While Marshals’ impressive viewership, based on the premiere episode, could change as more installments roll out, what Yellowstone has accomplished is a massive feat for CBS and network TV.

Marshals’ widespread popularity is a testament to the fact that a subscription-based franchise can be reformatted for broadcast and still attract a massive audience. Created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, Yellowstone aired on the Paramount Network and was available to stream on Peacock. That said, it requires a cable subscription or Peacock Premium to access.

With Marshals being the exception, Yellowstone’s spinoffs are made for streaming, with its prequels, 1883 and 1923, debuting on Paramount+. Yellowstone has another upcoming spinoff, titled Dutton Ranch, which will focus on Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprising their roles. It, too, will stream on Paramount+, making Marshals Yellowstone’s most accessible show.

Marshals’ Viewership Reveals Network TV’s Secret To Success

What Marshals has proven with its CBS success is that the Yellowstone franchise is platform-proof. It shows that Yellowstone can thrive outside of streaming, and may even be a sign that franchise-driven, procedural-style spinoffs are broadcast TV’s best path forward in an increasingly crowded entertainment landscape, giving networks hope for the future if they lean into the right IP.

That said, despite all the reasons Yellowstone fans hate Marshals, the franchise’s procedural shift is ironically the reason it has caught on with CBS audiences. Therefore, Marshals offers a blueprint for survival, leveraging established franchises and adapting them for broader audiences. That benefits Yellowstone as well, as it reaches both streaming and network audiences in one fell swoop.

Marshals’ impressive viewership means that the franchise has blurred the lines between streaming and broadcast success with its new distribution strategy. It’s a sign that platform matters less when a property has the prowess of Yellowstone, with its proven format and reach. In other words, despite the freshman drama’s drawbacks, many viewers are invested in the Dutton family’s continuing story. It will be interesting to see how the Yellowstone spinoff’s numbers pan out over the rest of the broadcast season, with the procedural series having aired about half of the 13 episodes in Marshals Season 1. It’s also too soon to say how Marshals Season 2 will hold up, with CBS renewing the drama after just two episodes.

Dutton Ranch’s May 15 premiere will also provide context for Yellowstone’s future, offering a comparison to its network success. Sheridan’s other recent Paramount+ series, like Landman starring Billy Bob Thornton, have become some of the streaming landscape’s most popular shows, and interest in what’s next for Beth and Rip in Texas will likely continue that trend.