Yes, Yellowstone is Different on CBS. Here’s Why

Almost a month into its broadcast debut on CBS, fans are loving Yellowstone. While the Paramount Network series is currently in its fifth season — with fans eagerly awaiting the second half of said fifth season — for many, watching the wildly popular series on CBS from the very first episode is their first exposure to the Dutton family saga. But while the series’ storylines remain the same between Paramount Network and CBS, the episodes aren’t exactly the same. Some eagle-eyed fans soon noticed that the broadcast version of Yellowstone had been altered and they weren’t wrong. Yellowstone has been censored for broadcast. Here’s what was changed — and why.

Ahead of the series’ network television debut in September, a CBS representative confirmed to Country Living that some changes had been made to episodes to meet the network’s Broadcast Standards. However, per that report, the changes are minor and don’t interfere with the integrity of the series. What that translates to is that, generally, the edits apply to language with certain words muted rather than replaced and scenes with graphic sexual content, nudity, and violence would be edited or removed.

Thus far, those edits have been met with mixed response from fans. After the series’ broadcast debut, many took to social media to criticize the changes, noting that many scenes with workers on the Yellowstone ranch had been completely removed and that sex scenes had also been altered. Other episodes saw some minor transitions and smaller scenes similarly edited or entirely removed as well— though it is not clear if that was done for standards or for runtime constraints.

The Edits Have Not Hurt Yellowstone‘s Popularity

While CBS’s broadcast version of Yellowstone is somewhat different from its original version, that hasn’t hurt viewership. The series continues to be a huge ratings win for the network with last week’s airing of the fourth episode bringing in an average of 4.4 million viewers, making it the number one scripted show for the week. The numbers for Episode 4, “The Long Black Train”, are especially impressive when you consider that Season 1 of Yellowstone first aired in 2018 and Sunday’s numbers are more than double the episode’s original ratings. Episode 5, “Coming Home”, also performed well on Sunday, with just under 4 million viewers.

Yellowstone‘s broadcast success has been interesting to watch. The Taylor Sheridan created series’ CBS debut was a huge success for the network with 6.56 million viewers and while those numbers have dipped a little — presumably since viewers are able to stream the rest of Season 1 as well as all additional current seasons and episodes of the series on Peacock — it’s still a ratings driver. The series is also bringing in viewers who had never before seen the hit series. Half of the massive audience that tuned in for Yellowstone’s broadcast premiere were first-time viewers just getting acquainted with the Dutton family.

Yellowstone airs Sunday nights on CBS. The first four seasons of the series are also available to stream on Peacock.