have you watched Yellowstone yet? And if not, do you know what you're missing?

It's the biggest show on cable TV. So what does that mean in the streaming age? How significant is

that? How did it become such a big hit? And what does it say about the state of television?

Those are some of the questions for this week's Reliable Sources podcast. So let's get started.

Cue the music.

I'm Brian Stelter and you know, this weekly podcast is our chance to go more in-depth talking about how

the media world works and doesn't work. Yellowstone is, in the words of the Wall Street Journal,

a huge hit that started with small town fans. It caught on in smaller markets before hitting it big

in major cities. And now the journal says it is the start of an empire. This really intrigued me.

It's began a lot of attention from TV critics, from reporters, because we haven't seen a show

pop this big in cable for a very long time. And yet if you want a long online stream it,

it's quite difficult. The success of Yellowstone has even caught the attention of the White House.

So to talk about all of that, I'm joined by John Jerkinson. He's an entertainment reporter

for the Wall Street Journal and he filed that story I was just quoting, calling Yellowstone a huge

hit that started with small town fans. So let's bring them in, John Jerkinson, and welcome to the

podcast. Great to be here, Brian. I'm going to have to admit right right here. I have not watched

Yellowstone yet. I hope people don't turn this off as a result. I guess I'm part of the problem,

John. You must have watched at least some of the show in order to write your story, right?

Of course, yeah. I remember when Yellowstone came on, it was kind of a remnant of the old cable days

as this Paramount network was trying to brand itself around an original series. So I took

note at first also because Kevin Koster, giant movie star, now on TV. I have to say I sort of lost

the thread for the show, but I'm back on the train. Am I part of the problem? Am I one of these

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