ViacomCBS takes Taylor Sheridan Shows to Worldwide Audience

New York, NY, August 19, 2021 – MTV Entertainment Studios today announced Paramount Network’s #1 hit series, Yellowstone, is set to return Sunday, November 7th. In addition, Paramount+, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, announced the service’s upcoming Taylor Sheridan series, Mayor of Kingstown and 1883 – the Yellowstone origin story – will premiere on Sunday, Nov. 14th, and Sunday, Dec. 19th, respectively.

The new season of Yellowstone serves as a launch pad for the new series Mayor of Kingstown and 1883. Paramount Network will air a special simulcast event for both Mayor of Kingstown and 1883 following Yellowstone to promote the new series.

Chris McCarthy

“Our strategy is to make Yellowstone, the massive # 1 hit with more than 10 million fans, into a global hit franchise under the incredible creative vision of Taylor Sheridan’s world building storytelling,” said Chris McCarthy, President and CEO, MTV Entertainment. “These new series will debut on Paramount+ and have special premiere day sneak episodes behind Yellowstone introducing this huge audience

to these new stories, allowing us to leverage our linear platforms to fuel the growth of Paramount+ which will stream each series exclusively after episode two.”

Keith Cox

According to the Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy and his top scripted lieutenant, Keith Cox, sources say, will also continue to oversee all of Taylor Sheridan’s originals for the company. Cox and former Spike TV/Paramount Network president Kevin Kay were central in recruiting the Yellowstone creator to ViacomCBS. Sheridan recently renewed his overall deal with ViacomCBS and has multiple series in the works, including a Yellowstone prequel and Jeremy Renner drama, both for Paramount+.

McCarthy has been a rising star at ViacomCBS since he first joined the company in 2004. After overseeing VH1’s ratings turnaround, he has continued to add oversight of multiple networks since and also launched in-house studios to focus on mining IP at MTV and Comedy Central. To that end, McCarthy has revived Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria (with a spinoff, Jodie) and Ren and Stimpy while cutting legacy programming like Tosh.0 and originals The Other Two and South Side. The two scripted originals moved to HBO Max as Comedy Central, the studio

on both shows, will continue to monetize them. “Mayor of Kingstown and 1883 are perfect examples of the types of prestige dramas we are focused on bringing to Paramount+,” said Tanya Giles, Chief Programming Officer, ViacomCBS Streaming. “Taylor Sheridan is an exceptional talent and we are thrilled to be expanding his portfolio of series within the ViacomCBS family. With the special simulcast event of both series on Paramount Network, we will be further tapping into the scale and reach of ViacomCBS to bring audiences to Paramount+.”

David Glasser

“We are thrilled to present these shows as part of this newly established Taylor Sheridan universe that has grown and expanded beyond our greatest expectations,” said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios. “Taylor has proven time and time again his powerful ability to tell riveting stories that are rich with passion, drama and adventure and entertain audiences everywhere. Additionally, the fall is an incredible landscape for television, bringing in the strongest viewer availability. ViacomCBS has remained a phenomenal partner to us over the years and this showcases the network’s confidence in all of our shows.”

As part of Sheridan’s deal with MTV Entertainment and ViacomCBS, Mayor of Kingstown and 1883 are just the first from his exclusive multi-year contract, which includes scripted aseries for streaming and linear distribution. 101 Studios serves as a production partner on all series.

Leveraging their content, steaming video on demand allows television networks to expand on a global scale. In that pursuit they need new high-quality original content to supplement the library of old shows, movies, and sports. Viacom/CBS the parent company of the Paramount Network and Paramont + their streaming on demand brand have chosen Taylor Sheridan to be a cornerstone in their effort. It is a daunting task, and huge responsibility to execute Sheridan’s plan for production and he has his team of writers from Yellowstone and 101 Studios to help carry the load. Sheridan also enlisted Yellowstone‘s production design trio — production designer Cary White, set decorator Carly Curry and art director Yvonne Boudreau — who recently drew that drama’s first Emmy nominations.

ViacomCBS has the largest share of the U.S. television audience and controls one of the industry’s most extensive libraries of TV and film titles. Their stable includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET. Paramount+, Pluto TV, and others.

Paramount + launched in March 2021, as a replacement for CBS All Access that already had an estimated 30 million subscribers, with 19.2 million domestically, as of Feb 24, 2021. Paramount Network

has a reach of nearly 90 million households domestically. The goal moving forward is to debut 36 original series this year and build the Paramount Plus library into 2,500 movies and 30,000 episodes. The service already features live news and sports from brands like; MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, Nickelodeon, and BET. The new original series at Paramount include besides Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone spinoffs, like the prequel Y: 1883, and 6666, a revival of Frasier, Nickelodeon’s Rugrats and more.

Paramount Plus streaming service has two tiers of pricing. The premium offer is $10 a month or $100 annually to stream ad-free, or $5 a month or $50 annually with advertising. The premium offer includes live, local CBS network. However, some programing from the CBS’ network is made available to the $5-tier subscribers.

Paramount Plus is building a world-wide subscriber base having recently launched in Latin America, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. In 2022 the streaming video on demand service will become part of SkyShowtime and will roll out in 20 European territories reaching 90 million homes. It will be available in Albania, Andorra, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czecch Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

In Latin American the service is already in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,

Jeremy Renner

Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Expanding Paramount Plus’s global reach into Australia and Europe is a primary goal in 2022. They have already launched in the United Kingdom thu SkyShowtime. Doing so gains them access to existing subscribers in the UK, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. By the end of 2022 Paramount Plus executives hope to have the streaming service in 45 markets.

Paramount Plus is broadening it’s movie offerings thru Epix which controls thousands of movies form a variety of studios.

All MGM’s new movies are distributed on Paramount+ after their theatrical releases. The new, original shows and movies Paramount+ is releasing includes three by Taylor Sheridan including:

Mayor of Kingstown - follows the McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.

Y:1883 - follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one.

6666 (Working Title) - founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in Amerinca is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing. The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made. In June Viacom CBS reported

that their combined streaming services including Paramount Plus, and the popular Pluto, had reached 42 million subscribers worldwide, and it was hoping to reach 65 to 75 million global subscribers streaming by 2024. Solid growth is driving advertising revenue nearly doubling 2020 levels toward $2 billion a year. Plus, subscriber income jumped a reported 82%.

It's been reported that the budget for 1883 is higher than Yellowstone. Parmount+ intends to double their investment in streaming content this year.

On the 1883 set

By the end of 2022 Paramount Plus executives hope to have the streaming service in 45 markets.

John & Nancy Tague, Jamie Walters. $500 - Gary & Marian Carpenter, Kevin & Amy Colston, Frank & Susan Costantini, John & Dawn Foy, John & Terri Mainey, Pro Management Inc./Cheryl Cody, Santa Hill Ranch, Andrea & Mirjam Stillo, Joe & Emmy Wolfe