Taylor Sheridan‘s Paramount Network megahit will resume production on its final episodes in the late spring of 2024. Yellowstone, earlier this month, had set a premiere date of November 2024 for the second half of its fifth and final season, which last aired its midseason finale Jan. 6, 2023, and will usher in the end of the series.
Yellowstone, TV’s top-rated drama, may end in spectacular fashion. Taylor Sheridan, co-creator and showrunner, Paramount Global and Paramount Network are moving to end their signature show in its current form. But they are plotting a potential franchise extension to continue the Dutton saga, a new show with Matthew McConaughey in talks to star. It is unclear which of the Yellowstone cast will move over to the McConaughey-led series, but it is expected to include several of the big stars.
The Paramount Network drama delivered a cumulative viewership of 12.1 million live-plus-same-day viewers, the biggest overnight launch yet for the Kevin Costner neo-Western. According to Samba TV, the ratings make Yellowstone the top scripted series premiere of 2022. The series was also up double digits in all demos, including growing 52% among adults 18-34 and delivering a cumulative 5.6 rating among adults 18-49.
The ranch drama starring Kevin Costner and from creator Taylor Sheridan has been renewed for a fifth season on the ViacomCBS-owned basic cable network. The family drama capped a record-breaking season in January when the finale drew 10.3 million total viewers, an all-time high for both the series and Paramount Network. (The show is the last scripted original on the linear network.)
Exclusives
Paramount Network is safe, for now. ViacomCBS has reversed plans to rebrand the cable network, home to Kevin Costner-fronted hit series Yellowstone, as Paramount Movie Network. The company has put the plans, which first emerged in September 2020, on hold, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a major impact on production. The original strategy was to turn Paramount Network into the Paramount Movie Network, which would air 52 original movies a year with one miniseries or scripted series airing per quarter.
Paramount Network is shifting strategies — and changing names. Variety has learned that the ViacomBS-owned cable net is planning to move out of long form series television and instead focus its efforts on made-for-TV movies featuring big name stars. To that end, the network will be rebranded as the Paramount Movie Network. The rebrand will take place globally within the next year.
Cops‘ 33-year run has come to an end. Pulled earlier this month by Paramount Network in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, the series will not be coming back. It ran on the Fox network for 25 years until 2013, when Viacom-owned Spike TV picked it up. The show remained on the air after Spike was re-branded as Paramount Network in 2018.
Viacom has laid off a number of staffers in its entertainment group, with the majority of the affected employees hailing from Paramount Network. A Viacom spokesperson declined to comment. But a source with knowledge of the situation that the number of affected employees was fewer than 20, or less than 2% of the entertainment group’s workforce.
Paramount Network, formerly Spike TV, launched Jan. 24 with its inaugural original series Waco, starring Shannon and Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights). In addition to scripted originals, Paramount has migrated Spike’s biggest hits, including Lip Sync Battle and Ink Master, over to the new network terrain.
Paramount Network replaces the former home of Baywatch reruns with shows that have cinematic roots, like Heathers and Yellowstone (above), starring Kevin Costner. The rebranded channel, which launches Thursday, will showcase original programming (about a third of the schedule), supplemented by TV series and feature films culled from the Viacom and Paramount vaults (Pitch Perfect, The Devil Wears Prada).
The 1988 cult movie “Heathers” and the title characters get makeovers in a new TV series debuting March 7 on the Paramount Network, formerly Spike TV. In the big-screen dark […]
Paramount Network Launches: What to Expect
Spike will be rebranded starting Thursday, when Viacom launches its general entertainment destination. The executives, showrunners and stars from the cabler’s first four scripted shows met the press Monday at TCA.
When Viacom’s Paramount Network formally launches early next year, executives want some of the commercials to be as can’t-miss as some of the series they expect to run. Among discussions being held with advertisers are running programs with limited commercials as well as getting first-run ads that have not been seen elsewhere, says Sean Moran, Viacom’s head of sales.
Owner Viacom is rebranding Spike, with the Paramount Network described as “a prime destination for premium storytelling.” Spike, launched in 2003, has focused on young men. Paramount’s slate of new series will include American Woman, starring Alicia Silverstone as a feminism-driven single mother struggling to raise her two daughters in the 1970s.
Viacom will rebrand Spike TV as Paramount Network. Sources say that the move is part of a new company-wide strategy set to be unveiled by CEO Bob Bakish today.
