Yellowstone‘s final episode hit a series high.
While Yellowstone fans didn’t like the series finale, that didn’t stop the show from ending with some big ratings. The Season 5B finale of the Paramount Network Western drama aired on Dec. 15, which also served as the series finale despite previous reports saying that a Season 6 could be coming. Deadline initially reported that episode brought in 11.4 million viewers, which was the largest audience in the show’s history.
An updated report as of Dec. 23 shared that Live+3 results included, the finale rose to 13.1 million viewers. On top of the episode being the most-watched episode in Yellowstone history, 5B was also the most-watched season with 13.6 million average viewers, up 3% from 5A, which averaged 13.2 million. Additionally, the 5B finale was up 4% from the 5A finale, per Paramount Global and courtesy of VideoAmp, and it included 10.3 million Live + Same Day viewers.
This isn’t the only big ratings win for Yellowstone’s final batch of episodes. The show’s return in November, which came nearly two years after Season 5A’s finale, drew in 16.4 million viewers across all of cable and CBS, which was the largest first-night audience in Yellowstone history. It was up 3% from Part 1, which brought in 15.9 million viewers during its premiere in November 2022. It might have helped that the episode aired on CBS after premiering on Paramount Network, giving people even more chances to watch one of the Dutton family’s final outings.
Despite 5B not including Kevin Costner after he exited the series as John Dutton III following 5A, the final batch of episodes still starred Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, and Brecken Merrill, among others. Yellowstone comes from Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, and Sheridan has also created several spinoffs. 1883 premiered on Paramount+ in December 2021 and ended the following February, while 1923 premiered on the streamer in December 2022, with Season 2 premiering on Feb. 23, 2025. New spinoffs The Madison, 6666, and 1944 will be coming soon, along with an untitled Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler spinoff.
Much more Yellowstone is on the way in the future, at least with the spinoffs. It will be hard for the spinoffs to match the success of the mothership series, but there will certainly still be a lot to look forward to regardless in the franchise.