The finale of Yellowstone season 4 just smashed ratings records for both the show and the last several years. Yellowstone, which began running on the Paramount Network in 2018, was co-created by Sons of Anarchy‘s John Linson and Hell or High Water screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, who also wrote or co-wrote every episode of the series, directing the entire first season as well. The show follows the Dutton family, who have owned the Yellowstone Ranch for centuries. They fight to defend their land from developers as things get increasingly dangerous and out of hand. Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner, Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Jefferson White, and Gil Birmingham.
Yellowstone season 4 premiered on November 7, 2021, and aired on Sundays until its finale on January 2, 2022. This season, which has been even more deadly and vengeance-fueled, the cast was joined by new members Jacki Weaver, Piper Perabo, Kathryn Kelly, and Finn Little. As a companion to the series, the Jefferson White-hosted The Official Yellowstone Podcast was launched on December 9, 2021.
Per Deadline, the Yellowstone season 4 finale racked up a total viewership of 9.3 million in its live + same day ratings. This is the best rating an episode of the show has ever gotten, beating its previous top episode (the season 4 premiere) by 81%. Not only that, it’s the highest-rated cable telecast since 2017. The only episode in the past 4 years to beat that number is the season 8 premiere of the smash-hit zombie drama The Walking Dead, which hit 11.4 million viewers.
Yellowstone has slowly evolved into a ratings giant since its season 1 premiere. Season 1 was garnering ratings that averaged a respectable 2.1 million, and season 2 did only slightly better, averaging around 2.4. However, the show got a huge boost and each successive season did significantly better, with season 3 nabbing around 3.7 million per episode and ending on a high of 5.16 million for its finale, followed by season 4 which never had an episode dip below 7.28 million.
The show is organically growing strong ratings in its own right, but the strong showing of the Yellowstone season 4 finale may have been given a boost because of the launch of the show’s first spinoff, 1883. That series, which stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Sam Elliott, is a prequel that follows the members of the Dutton family who founded the Yellowstone Ranch. 1883 premiered on December 19, 2021, sandwiched between episodes 8 and 9 of the 10-episode season 4, giving newcomers just enough time to binge their way into being invested in the main branch of the show and sitting down with the finale.
Source: Deadline
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