Paramount Plus launched in March as the replacement for CBS All Access, with a big library of shows and movies, plus exclusive originals and some …
Paramount Plus launched in March as the replacement for CBS All Access, with a big library of shows and movies, plus exclusive originals and some sports. But Paramount Plus doesn’t have the single show most associated with the Paramount name: Yellowstone. The first three seasons of the cowboy drama are streaming only on rival service Peacock, and new episodes of the fourth season premiering Sunday will only be available on the Paramount Network app and website (which is different from Paramount Plus. Yeah, it’s complicated). Down the line, though, Paramount Plus will have exclusive Yellowstone spinoffs, like the prequel titled 1883 expected later this year. Unlike streaming services such as HBO Max and Disney Plus, Paramount Plus sometimes streams new theatrical movies the same day they hit cinemas. Paw Patrol: The Movie was released that way earlier this year, and Clifford the Big Red Dog will be available to stream on Paramount Plus on Wednesday, the same day it hits theaters. Paramount has pledged to make some of its big-screen movies available to stream after they spend 30 to 45 days in theaters, a much quicker turnaround than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Quiet Place Part 2 was among the movies on this track. Mission: Impossible 7 is supposed to stream next summer on a similar schedule after hitting cinemas in May. Paramount Plus has also promised to debut 36 original series this year. Among those originals are a revival of 1990s sitcom Frasier and reboots of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats and iCarly to tap millennial nostalgia. A new studio dedicated to the Avatar: The Last Airbender concept, founded by the original cartoon’s creators, will produce a range of programming, including a new animated movie. Like Disney Plus, HBO Max, Apple TV Plus, Peacock, Discovery Plus and others that came before it, Paramount Plus hopes its particular recipe of TV shows, movies and originals will hook you on its vision for TV’s future. For you, these so-called streaming wars affect how many services you use — and, often, must pay for — to watch your favorite shows and movies online. Before Paramount Plus even launched as the revamp of CBS All Access, parent company ViacomCBS had already struck a licensing deal for Yellowstone with Peacock. That’s why the first three season of Yellowstone are on Peacock rather than Paramount Plus, and that’s why the fourth season will stream on Peacock eventually too. Peacock hasn’t announced the timing that it will begin streaming Yellowstone’s fourth season yet, but you can expect that it will be sometime after the season finale concludes on Paramount Network. For more info, read CNET’s in-depth explanation of all this confusion. The main distinction to understand about streaming Yellowstone is that Paramount Plus is different than Paramount Network, which is where Yellowstone will premiere its fourth season Sunday. On Paramount Plus, you can’t stream Yellowstone — old episodes or new — at all. Paramount Network is a traditional cable channel available to people who pay for it through a live-TV provider, and Paramount Network’s programming is available to stream on the web at paramountnetwork.com or its Paramount Network app. But it’s only available to stream for those people who are paying for the channel already with one of those live-TV subscriptions, such as cable, satellite or a live-channel streaming service like YouTube TV or Philo. If you want to stream the new episodes of Yellowstone’s fourth season, the only place to stream them at first will be on Paramount Network’s website or app. And these Yellowstone episodes will be available to stream only for “authenticated” viewers — that is, people who can log in with their live-TV service’s credentials to prove they’re already paying for Paramount Network. One exception: The Yellowstone season premiere Sunday will be outside the paywall, so anybody should be able to watch Sunday’s show on Paramount Network’s app or website. If you want to binge previous seasons of Yellowstone, the Paramount Network app and website have those too. But if you’re a cord-cutter or otherwise don’t have access to Paramount Network, then you need to go to Peacock to stream the first three seasons. The fourth season will stream on Peacock eventually too. Peacock hasn’t announced the timing that it will begin streaming Yellowstone’s fourth season yet, but you can expect it will be sometime after the season finale concludes on Paramount Network. So what does Paramount Plus actually have related to Yellowstone? Eventually, spinoffs. On Dec.19, Paramount Plus will begin streaming a prequel titled 1883, which focuses on the Dutton family more than a century ago as they move west and establish the Yellowstone Ranch.
