Taylor Sheridan Fans Will Be Hit With a Huge Blow in January

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Taylor Sheridan fans are officially in their stress era. Just as Landman continues to dominate conversation and Paramount+ keeps leaning hard into the Sheridan-verse, the studio behind it all has confirmed two pieces of news that — taken together — sting a little more than expected: Paramount+ is raising prices in January 2026, and Sheridan is still on track to leave the studio entirely once his deal expires.

Let’s start with the money part. Under David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, the company is planning to spend more on content — but it’s also asking subscribers to pay up for it. In its Q3 2025 earnings report, Paramount confirmed U.S. price increases will kick in on January 15, 2026.

The ad-supported Paramount+ Essential plan will rise by $1 to $8.99/month, while Paramount+ Premium (ad-free) jumps to $13.99/month. Annual plans are also climbing sharply, with Essential moving to $89.99/year and Premium to $139.99/year.

Ellison framed the hikes as necessary fuel for bigger ambitions. “These changes will fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience and deliver an even stronger slate of programming,” he said in his letter to shareholders. And to be fair, Paramount+ isn’t exactly sitting on its hands.

The streamer just locked in a seven-year, $7.7 billion UFC deal, a five-year, $1.5 billion pact with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and is ramping its film slate up to 15 movies a year. South Park alone was the platform’s top subscriber-acquisition driver in Q3.

Just weeks after Sheridan publicly severed ties with Paramount+, two of his most talked-about series, Landman and Mayor of Kingstown, surged on Prime Video’s domestic charts. Now, that brief streaming victory lap is coming to an end. Both shows will no longer be free to sample on Prime Video as of January 1, cutting off easy access for viewers who were just discovering them.

If that sounds like a plot twist straight out of a Sheridan script, you’re not wrong. According to FlixPatrol, Landman recently climbed to become the second-most-watched show on Prime Video in the U.S., trailing only Fallout. Mayor of Kingstown, meanwhile, landed lower on the charts — but still made enough noise to remind viewers why Sheridan’s brand of gritty, morally thorny storytelling continues to resonate.

The surge comes amid major changes behind the scenes. Following Paramount’s recent management and ownership shakeups, it was revealed that Sheridan would be taking his business elsewhere after years of anchoring Paramount+ with hit after hit. Over the last decade, he’s built a mini-empire there, delivering series like Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, Tulsa King, Lioness, and more — all while enjoying an unusually high level of creative freedom.

Is ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Any Good?

In his review, Collider’s Jeff Ewing described it as the show’s “best season yet,” adding:

“The crux of Mayor of Kingstown is that its setting is little other than the prisons and the community that supports them. It’s all gang rivalries, corruption, and danger, all the time. That’s how the series is billed, but that’s never been truer than in Season 4. Everyone has an agenda, the danger is heightened, and characters have a reason to be afraid of multiple rhetorical sharks swimming in the waters. It’s a well-crafted season, anchored by solid performances, including newcomers Falco and James. Part of Mayor of Kingstown‘s success this go-around hinges on Sheridan and Dillon allowing the show’s characters to face genuine danger and suffer the consequences, which results in several surprising outcomes in an ultimately top-shelf Season 4.”

By comparison, Yellowstone holds an overall 83% score on RT, while 1883 holds an 89% score, Tulsa King holds an 88% score, 1923 holds a 94% score, Lioness holds a 73% score, and Landman, holds a 77% score. Up next, he’ll serve up two more Yellowstone spin-offs — Y: Marshals and The Madison. On the film side of things, Sheridan serves as the writer and producer on his regular collaborator, Ben Richardson‘s feature directorial debut, F.A.S.T. Starring Brandon Sklenar, LaKeith Stanfield, Jason Clarke, and Sam Claflin, the movie will be released theatrically in 2027.