'Yellowstone' Is Making a Major Network Move This Fall

CBS is radically revamping their fall schedule in light of Hollywood’s dueling SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes. In a win for everyone who has yet to sign up for Paramount+, the much-lauded (and recently controversial) hit series Yellowstone will make its network television debut. 

CBS will air the violent neo-western, created by Taylor Sheridan and starring Kevin Costner, Sunday evenings at 9 p.m. beginning with the show’s first season. A specific date for Yellowstone’s CBS premiere has yet to be announced.

Yellowstone, one of the most-watched shows on television, originally aired on the cable channel Paramount Network, which along with CBS is owned by Paramount Global.

The CBS replay of the show comes at an opportune time for both longtime fans and series newbies.

Executives recently announced that Yellowstone would come to an end after the second part of its fifth season. This came after a months-long row in the press between producers and Costner. The actor ultimately decided to leave the series without properly resolving his character’s arc, preferring to work on other projects to which he felt more emotionally connected.

Back in May, only a week into the writers strike, CBS had high hopes for its fall line-up. The network anticipated returns for hit series The Equalizer and CSI: Vegas while welcoming in hopeful new hits. The latter camp included a remake of Matlock starring Kathy Bates, and Poppa’s House, a “multi-generational comedy” starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr.

CBS’s updated schedule is a stark reflection of how quickly studios have become starved for content during the strikes.

The network has welcomed back SEAL Team, the action-drama which began on CBS before being unceremoniously dropped onto Paramount+, while Monday nights boast a show simply dubbed “Paramount Original TBA.” CBS is also importing episodes of the UK hit Ghosts, upon which the network’s profitable remake is based, to appeal to comedy fans.

New seasons of the unscripted shows Survivor, Big Brother and The Amazing Race will air as planned.

CBS is not the first network plundering their parent corp’s streaming libraries. ABC recently announced that Ms. Marvel, which originally premiered on Disney+, will air on the television network beginning in August. It’s expected that many more networks will follow suit as the strikes drag on.

While Yellowstone’s producers were eyeing a possible November premiere date for the second half of season five, it’s unclear if they’ll be able to stick to that amidst the strikes.