Yellowstone is the crown jewel in the newly-rebranded Paramount Global but the Kevin Costner-led series lives on streaming in the U.S. with rival Peacock.
President and CEO Bob Bakish, closing out the company’s two and a half hour investor presentation, called that deal “unfortunate”.
Bakish said that the agreement with NBCUniversal’s streamer happened before the merger between Viacom and CBS, which was first announced in August 2019, approved by National Amusements in October 2019 and closed on December 4 2019.
The Yellowstone streaming deal was announced in January 2020.
The western series does air on Paramount+ internationally and the company has ordered a number of spinoffs for its streamer including prequel 1883, which has received a second season, as well as a follow up series 1932, in addition to a number of other Taylor Sheridan series.
The fact that the original western drama series airs on Peacock has led to much confusion about the Taylor Sheridan show’s digital availability. It has led many viewers, eager to catch up on their favorite western or binge the zeitgeisty show, baffled as where to find it.
There was no suggestion from Bakish, either, that they can do a deal with NBCU to get back the streaming rights to the ratings smash.