‘Yellowstone’ Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Shatters Ratings Records
The long-awaited return of Yellowstone has finally happened, and the hotly anticipated television event was a ratings smash for Paramount Network.
Yellowstone's Season 5, Part 2 premiered on Sunday (Nov. 10), and as Variety reports, Nielsen data indicates that the initial airing scored 5.85 million on Paramount alone, while 5.4 million viewers tuned in to watch on CBS that same night.
The episode also aired via multiple other networks, including MTV and CMT, totaling roughly 13.62 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
READ MORE: The Most Epic Deaths in Yellowstone History
The numbers are even larger according to VideoAmp, which estimated 16.4 million viewers across all of the various platforms and the encore airings later Sunday evening.
According to Paramount, those numbers make the Season 5, Part 2 premiere the most-watched premiere episode in the history of Yellowstone.
Fans have waited for a year for new episodes of Yellowstone, and during that time, Kevin Costner and the show's producers came to a parting of the ways due to conflict around his shooting schedule.
His character of patriarch John Dutton was found dead of an apparent suicide in the opening scene of Sunday's premiere, but it was later revealed that he'd been killed by an assassin hired by Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) — which appeared to be surprise Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) as much as anyone.
Yellowstone's Season 5 will continue to air on Sunday nights on Paramount Network.
PICTURES: Get a First Look at 'Yellowstone' Season 5, Part 2
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside Kevin Costner's Spectacular Colorado Ranch
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside 'Yellowstone' Star Cole Hauser's Spectacular California Ranch
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
See Inside 'Yellowstone' Star Ryan Bingham's Gorgeous $2.45 Million Estate
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside 'Yellowstone' Star Hassie Harrison's Spectacular $2.7 Million Villa
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside 'Yellowstone' Actor Barret Swatek's $100 Million Malibu Estate
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
You Can Rent a Cabin on the Ranch From 'Yellowstone' - See Pictures
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
Sterling Whitaker is a Senior Writer and Senior Editor for Taste of Country. He focuses on celebrity real estate, as well as coverage of Yellowstone and related shows like 1883 and 1923. He's interviewed cast members including Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford, and Whitaker is also known for his in-depth interviews with country legends including Don Henley, Rodney Crowell, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs and more.