Why Isn’t ‘Yellowstone’ on Paramount+? Where Can You Stream the New Season?

For those familiar with the series “Yellowstone,” you likely know that it’s one of the biggest series Paramount has released in quite some time that doesn’t involve stars or trekking to them. Yet if you’ve wanted to stream the series at home, you may have been surprised to find that Yellowstone cannot be found on Paramount+. Where you’ll actually find it may be the single most confusing thing you’ll hear today.

Where is ‘Yellowstone’ Streaming?

Season 4 of “Yellowstone” will air, as always, on the Paramount Network. The new season starts this Sunday.

	DTV STREAM	Fubo	Hulu	Philo	Sling TV		YouTube
	Free Trial	Free Trial	Sign Up	Free Trial	GET $10 OFF		Sign Up
	$74.99	$85.98	$69.99	$25	$40	$40	$72.99
Paramount Network	•	•	•	•	^ $6	^ $6	•

You can watch the channel for free with a 7-day free trial of Philo.

But if you want to wait and watch it on demand, you’ll find it parked over on a competitor’s service: Peacock. More confusing, Season 4 won’t be available on Peacock until roughly three months after the entire season ends on Paramount Network. That means “Yellowstone” Season 4 won’t be streaming on demand until late March 2022. If you’d like to watch the first three seasons, they’re on Peacock right now.

That pattern will continue:

• New episodes on Paramount Network
• Streaming on demand on Peacock 3 months after season ends

Why Would Paramount Do This?

You can hear the forehead-slapping reverberating to this day. Paramount essentially dealt away some of its premier content to other services. Paramount did something similar with “South Park,” letting it go to HBO Max. (Paramount has since commissioned “South Park” movies that will only be on Paramount+.) The short term boost of cash may have helped, but it’s kneecapping the growth of Paramount+.

Realizing its mistake, Paramount is creating a “Yellowstone” prequel series specifically for Paramount+. The company is also paying series creator Taylor Sheridan to create a new Paramount+ exclusive: “Mayor of Kingstown,” starring Jeremy Renner.

Paramount+ Headwinds

In addition to letting some of its most popular shows boost other streaming services, Paramount+ has been hurt by its decision to bench its slate of theatrical films. You may remember “Top Gun: Maverick” got a Super Bowl commercial back in February of 2020. The movie won't hit theaters until May of 2022. Then it’s a 45-day wait before it appears on Paramount+.

While some companies like Disney dabbled with direct-to-streaming releases or higher tier “Premier Access” streaming sales, Paramount has been much more gunshy with its slate of movies. It got snake-bit by the terrible theatrical performance of “Snake Eyes,” and the movie was available for digital rental just three weeks after hitting theaters. Considering the budget and expectations for its Tom Cruise franchises (including “Mission: Impossible”), Paramount essentially chose to let its streaming service run into battle without much ammunition.

In time, Paramount will be fine, but in an era when strong content draws subscribers and lowers churn, these questionable licensing deals provide a blueprint on how to shoot yourself in the foot at the starting line.