1. History
    Early years (1983–1991)  Gaylord years (1991–1997)  CBS/Viacom years (1997–present) 

2. Programming

3. See also

4. References

5. External links

• CMT Music

CMT, originally launched as CMTV, is an American pay television channel that is owned by Viacom. Its name is an initialism for "Country Music Television", which has since been de-emphasized. It was the first nationally available channel devoted to country music and country music videos. Programming on the channel originally focused on country music; including music videos, taped concerts and biographies of country music stars. CMT's current programming now mainly consists of original reality programs and scripted series,^[1] off-network syndicated shows, and theatrically-released movies.

As of January 2018, approximately 92 million U.S. homes ^[2] (or 76.9% of the Nielsen-estimated 119.2 million television households ^[3]) receive CMT. The channel's headquarters are located in One Astor Plaza in New York City, and has additional offices in Nashville, Tennessee.

History

Early years (1983–1991)

CMTV, an initialism of Country Music Television, was founded by Glenn D. Daniels, the owner of Video World Productions in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Daniels put together the ownership group of Telestar Corporation and the Blinder Robinson & Company investment bank in a three-way split. Daniels also served as the program director and the first president of the network.^[4]

The network launched on March 5, 1983, at 6:19 p.m. CT, beating its chief competitor, TNN, to air by two days. The first video clip to air on CMT was Faron Young's 1971 hit "It's Four in the Morning".^[5] The following summer, MTV filed a trademark infringement lawsuit over the initials CMTV, and the network changed its name to simply CMT.^[6]

Gaylord years (1991–1997)

In 1991, Opryland USA and its owner Gaylord Entertainment Company acquired CMT in a $34 million deal.^[7] The network was sold by a group led by radio station owner Robert Sillerman and record producer James Guercio.^[7] Opryland USA and owner Gaylord also owned CMT's competitor The Nashville Network.

In October 1992, CMT launched its first international channel, CMT Europe, as part of the Sky Multichannels package. By 1998, Gaylord reported $10 million in losses from CMT Europe and decided to cease broadcasting the declining network on March 31, 1998.^[8] Gaylord had planned to emulate the successful model created by E!, by selling large programming blocks to other European channels, but these plans never occurred.^[8]

In 1994, Gaylord made its first major format change for CMT by adding several new programs, including Big Ticket, Jammin' Country, CMT Signature Series, The CMT Delivery Room, CMT Saturday Nite Dance Ranch, and CMT Top 12 Countdown.^[9] All shows eventually were cancelled by 2001.

In 1995, CMT dropped all videos by Canadian artists without U.S. record contracts in response to the network being replaced in Canada by Calgary, Alberta-based New Country Network.^[10] By March 1996, CMT had eventually returned the dropped videos to its playlist after reaching an agreement to acquire a 20% ownership of New Country Network, in addition to renaming it CMT.^[11]

CBS/Viacom years (1997–present)

In 1997, both CMT and TNN were sold to Westinghouse, then-owner of CBS for a reported $1.5 billion.^[12] The acquisition of the two country-themed networks, along with the formation of the ill-fated CBS Eye on People network, and two regional sports networks (the Baltimore-area Home Team Sports, now Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest Sports Channel in the Twin Cities, now Fox Sports North) formed the CBS Cable division, based in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry and a Charlotte office at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

In 1999, Viacom acquired CBS, assuming ownership of CMT and TNN and folding them into the MTV Networks stable. The resulting moves in 2000 led to the closing of the CBS Charlotte office, while Viacom moved TNN's operations from Nashville to its own headquarters in New York City and changed its format, eventually renaming it The National Network and then reformatting it again as Spike; it was renamed as the Paramount Network in January 2018. CMT also experienced a migration of its mainline operations from Nashville to New York (although their Nashville office building was kept as a secondary operation), and experienced a format change; being modeled after sister networks MTV and VH1 to include series and movies, in addition to music videos. Over time, the number of music videos on the network had steadily decreased with the late May 2006 rebranding of VH1 Country to CMT Pure Country, with music video programming on CMT eventually being relegated mainly to the overnight and morning hours (similar to MTV and VH1). Also, on January 3, 2006, the original Viacom split into two different companies: One being the legal successor to Viacom, CBS Corporation, and the other being the 'new' Viacom, with CMT, Spike TV and the MTV family of networks being part of the latter company.

Despite the decrease in music videos, CMT has experienced significant ratings gains since its acquisition by MTV Networks in 1999. By 2007, the channel was available in more than 83 million homes.^[13] As of 2009, the network now reaches 88 million homes.

On April 4, 2012, CMT announced its first cartoon series, Bounty Hunters, featuring the voices of Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall who also serve as executive producers. CMT also announced that it would air Trinity 911, a 10-episode "workplace docu-comedy" that follows the police force in a small Texas town.^[14] Trinity 911 was later renamed Big Texas Heat^[15] and removed from the schedule after airing four episodes.

On June 10, 2016, CMT announced that they would pick up the primetime network series Nashville after ABC's cancellation of the series, and renewed the series for a fifth full season of 22 episodes; it will continue to be streamed beginning the day after an episode's first airing on Hulu.^[16] In 2017, when the network announced a transition into an unscripted programming-oriented schedule, Nashville's sixth season (which CMT renewed) would also be its last; Nashville was CMT's last original scripted show at the time.^[17][18]

As part of its shift back to unscripted programming, CMT announced Music City in September 2017,^[19] a reality series created by Adam DiVello of The Hills and Laguna Beach fame.^[20] Set in Nashville, Tennessee, the show focuses on eight friends as they try to make it in Nashville, including Bryant Lowry, drummer in up and coming Nashville pop band Jet Black Alley Cat.^[21][22] The series premiered on March 1, 2018.^[23][24]

Programming

CMT's current programming consists of general entertainment programming, movies and reality shows, a significant portion of which isn't related to country music. The channel's daily music programming currently consists of a four-hour music video block, seen during the early morning hours, as well as the Hot 20 Countdown, which airs on weekend mornings. Of Viacom's various mainline channels (not counting its suite of all-music digital channels), CMT used to devote the most time to music videos, with at least six hours of the daily schedule set aside for them during the overnight and morning hours.

CMT's music mix is primarily focused on mainstream hit country songs, but also includes occasional videos from crossover, Americana and alternative acts (dubbed "CMT Edge"). One of the most popular programs the channel has aired is its annual CMT Music Awards, featuring awards in various categories and performances by country music artists. These awards are aired live every year from Nashville, Tennessee.

See also

• CMT Music Awards
• CMT Music
• CMT Canada
• Great American Country
• The Nashville Network
• MTV
• VH1
• RFD-TV

References

External links

• {{Official website|http://www.cmt.com/ }}
• CMT Founder's Site

• Fredrik Dahlström
• Fredrik Dolk
• Fredrik Eriksson (ice hockey b. 1980)
• Fredrik Erixon
• Fredrik Forsberg (ice hockey, born December 1996)
• Fredrik Frantz Michael Wilhelm Rustad
• Fredrik Gardeman
• Fredrik Gottlieb Olsen Ramm
• Fredrik Gronningsaeter
• Fredrik Grønningsæter
• Fredrik Gustafsson
• Fredrik Gärdeman
• Fredrik Halvorsen
• Fredrik Handemark
• Fredrik Hvoslef
• Fredrik Händemark
• Fredrik I of Sweden
• Fredrik Jensen (footballer, born 1985)
• Fredrik Johansson (bandy player)
• Fredrik Johansson (electronic sports player)
• Fredrik Johansson (orienteer)
• Fredrikke Marie Qvam
• Fredrikke Morck
• Fredrikke Mørck
• Fredrikke Nielsen