While “Yellowstone” fans await the final episodes of the series this fall, the first half of Season 5 is now streaming.
The first eight episodes of the fifth season of the hit Paramount Network show are now streaming on Peacock as of Thursday. The previous four seasons are also available to stream on Peacock.
“Yellowstone” Season 5 sees Kevin Costner’s John Dutton sworn in as the new governor of Montana, while those closest to him fight to defend the family’s ranch. The fifth season premiered in November 2022 and wrapped up on New Years Day.
Fans eager to watch the show have two options to do so: either a $4.99 per month or $9.99 per month subscription to Peacock. The latter option lets you stream content without ads.
Since “Yellowstone” took its midseason break in January, the show has gone through several drastic changes.
Word broke in February that the back half of the latest “Yellowstone” season could be the show’s last with Costner as John Dutton. Scheduling conflicts with Costner’s multipart Western movie epic “Horizon” precluding the star from continuing his role as patriarch of the Montana ranch family.
The show received its biggest shakeup in early May, when it was officially announced that the fifth season would be the series’ last in its current iteration. The final six episodes of “Yellowstone” Season 5 are expected to land on the small screen in November.
However, a “Yellowstone” sequel show is already in the works with a planned December release date. It’s unknown what actors from the flagship series will join the “Yellowstone” sequel show, but show insiders do expect a few returning faces.
In the meantime, “Yellowstone” fans can catch up on the first five seasons through Peacock. The first half of “Yellowstone” is also available on DVD and Blu-ray, and available to rent digitally on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Why is ‘Yellowstone’ streaming on Peacock and not Paramount+?
A prior deal with NBCUniversal precludes “Yellowstone” from streaming on the network’s own service, Paramount+.
Peacock landed the streaming rights to “Yellowstone” in January 2020, between the show’s second and third seasons. The streaming service launched in July 2020 with “Yellowstone” as one of the service’s biggest draws.
At the time in 2020, Paramount’s own streaming channel, Paramount+, had yet to launch. The streaming service would eventually get off the ground under a year later in March 2021.
To combat the loss of streaming revenue and the high demand for “Yellowstone,” Paramount went all-in on the Western genre, giving Taylor Sheridan a deal to develop several projects related to the show. The first was “1883,” a prequel to “Yellowstone,” which exclusively streamed on Paramount+ in December 2021.
While “Yellowstone” may not be on Paramount+ for the foreseeable future, Sheridan has a plethora of shows on Paramount’s streaming service. Another “Yellowstone” prequel titled “1923” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren is on the service, along with the currently filming “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” headed to stream later this year.
Other non-”Yellowstone” shows by Sheridan on Paramount+ include “Mayor of Kingstown” and “Tulsa King.”
