One of CBS’s hit shows of the 2023 fall TV season has been Yellowstone season 1, despite the fact the first season of the western series originally debuted in 2018 on the Paramount Network. With Yellowstone on CBS, many US viewers were able to watch the Taylor Sheridan western for the first time. But now that Yellowstone season 1 is wrapping up on the network, the question becomes whether or not Yellowstone season 2 is going to air on CBS?
Yellowstone, which stars Kevin Costner as rancher John Dutton who fights multiple enemies trying to take the land his family has long lived on, has been a fixture of CBS’s Sunday night broadcasts since September 17. One or two episodes from the first season have aired each week depending on the NFL on CBS schedule. The season 1 finale airs on the network on Sunday, October 22, at 9 pm ET/PT.
Is Yellowstone season 2 going to fill the hole in the weekly schedule when Yellowstone season 1 concludes? Here’s what we know.
Is Yellowstone season 2 airing on CBS?
There has been no official word from CBS as of October 17 about their plans to air Yellowstone season 2 on the network. What to Watch has reached out to network reps about it, but as of publication, we have not heard back. However, we’ve been able to find some clues to this mystery.
If you go to CBS.com and look at the schedule, you can look up what CBS has currently listed for Sunday, October 29. At this time, the primetime schedule includes an hour block for Yellowstone at 9 pm ET/PT. However, it is worth noting that there is no indication of what episode is going to air in this time slot.
For comparison, when looking at Sunday, October 22, the Yellowstone listing includes the title for the season 1 finale, “The Unravelling Part 2.” So, it’s definitely possible that spot could be reserved for the Yellowstone season 2 premiere, but until we get official word from CBS, it could just as easily be a previously aired Yellowstone season 1 episode, or the schedule could even be tweaked to air something else in that spot.
Based on how Yellowstone season 1 has performed with ratings on CBS, it would be no surprise if the network wanted to continue airing the show. The Yellowstone series premiere that aired on September 17 had 6.6 million viewers, with episodes 2-4 all getting between 4 and 5 million viewers, as reported by Variety and other outlets.
The show has been a great programming boost for CBS as Hollywood is impacted by strikes. When Yellowstone season 1 premiered, both writers and actors were on strike seeking new labor agreements with studios, meaning CBS (and other networks) had few new TV shows to fill out its lineup. The writers’ strike has been settled, meaning scripts can be written for shows, but the actors’ strike is still ongoing, meaning production for new shows is still on pause.
Even if the strike ended tomorrow, CBS shows like Ghosts season 3, Blue Bloods season 14, NCIS season 21, Fire Country season 2 and more likely would not be able to get new episodes out until late winter/spring at the earliest. So Yellowstone and its multiple seasons could in theory be used as a fixture of CBS’s lineup in the meantime.
At least to a point. Yellowstone season 5 also has been impacted by the strikes, with the second half of the final season still waiting to be completed. But that still leaves three more full seasons of Yellowstone and possibly the first eight episodes of season 5 if CBS opted to go that route.
Long story short, we don’t have anything confirming that Yellowstone season 2 is going to air on CBS as soon as October 29 or at any other point. But there definitely appears to be an interest among viewers to find out what happens next with John, Beth (Kelly Reilly), Rip (Cole Hauser), Kayce (Luke Grimes), Monica (Kelsey Asbille), Jamie (Wes Bentley) and the rest of the Yellowstone cast of characters.
If you can’t wait for CBS to make the call, all episodes of Yellowstone are currently streaming on Peacock for US consumers.