CMT

Country Music Television (CMT)
CMT logo
Launched	January 1, 1995
Owned by	Corus Entertainment (90% & managing partner) Viacom (10%)
Country	Canada
Broadcast area	National
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Formerly called	New Country Network (NCN) (1995-1996)
Website	CMT
Availability
Satellite
Bell TV	Channel 575
Shaw Direct	Channel 583
Cable
Available on most Canadian cable systems	Check local listings, channels may vary

CMT is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel which airs country music and entertainment oriented programs in the form of music videos, award shows, concerts, sitcoms and more. CMT is owned by Corus Entertainment (90%) and Viacom (10%).

History

Original logo of CMT from 1996

Before the launch of CMT Canada, the American service, Country Music Television had been available in Canada since 1984.

In 1994, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensed a series of new Canadian specialty channels and among them was New Country Network (NCN). The licence was originally granted to the partnership of Maclean-Hunter and Rawlco Communications. However, because of its policy that foreign services could not directly compete with Canadian services, the CRTC removed CMT from the list of eligible foreign services on June 6, 1994.

By the time of NCN's launch, Maclean-Hunter had been purchased by Rogers Communications.

NCN launched on January 1, 1995 and on that date, cable operators were no longer allowed to offer CMT. In retaliation, CMT launched a complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement and threatened to cease carriage of videos by Canadian artists.

After months of negotiations, the matter was settled when it was announced that CMT would purchase a minority stake in the service. NCN relaunched as CMT Canada on October 31, 1996 with a similar format to the American service. The majority interest was acquired by Shaw Communications at the same time; Shaw subsequently transferred its ownership stake to Corus Entertainment, a separate company owned by the same shareholders, in 1999.

The controversy also resulted in an effective change to CRTC policy — if a foreign channel is already available in Canada and a new Canadian equivalent is subsequently licensed, cable companies are no longer required to drop the foreign service.

Programming

CMT logo (2006-2008)

When CMT launched as NCN on December 31, 1994, the CRTC required that 90% of the station's programming consist of music videos.^[1] The CRTC dropped that requirement to 70% on February 28, 2001.^[2] The percentage was further reduced to 50% on February 28, 2006.^[3]

Currently, CMT airs music videos throughout the day in blocks titled My CMT Morning, CMT Music, Pure Country, CMT Rewind, Wide Open Country and CMT Spotlight, along with the weekly programs Dedicated, CMT Ultimate and the Chevy Cross Canada Countdown. In the evening, CMT airs the syndicated TV series' Reba, According to Jim, and Home Improvement along with country music-related series such as The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search, Texas Cheer Moms and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. Like its American counterpart, CMT also airs country/rural lifestyle movies on the weekend.

Hosts/presenters

Current hosts

• Casey Clarke (Chevy Cross Canada Countdown)
• Elissa Lansdell (CMT Dedicated, Saturday Night Movie)
• Beverley Mahood (CMT Ultimate, Project Mom & Project Dad)
• Paul McGuire (The Show, CMT's Greatest, Karaoke Star)
• Lindsay Stone (CMT Music, My CMT Top 5, Chevy Cross Canada Countdown)

Past hosts

• Cliff Dumas (Now at KSON Country 97.3 FM in San Diego)
• Shannon Gaye
• Gnarley Charley (Now at Kiss Country 93.7 FM in Fresno)
• Stu Jeffries
• Nicola Jones
• Ashley Kranz (winner of CMT Canada's "CMT Casting Call 2007" competition)
• Melissa Parrott (winner of CMT Canada's "CMT Casting Call 2009" competition)
• Colleen Rusholme (Now at EZ Rock 97.3 FM in Toronto)
• Greg Shannon (Now at KG Country 95.5 FM in Alberta)
• Nancy Sinclair
• Tamara Stanners

See also

Country Music portal

• CMT (US)

References

External links

• CMT
• CMT Media website

v • d • e   Music television channels in Canada National English cable/satellite networks Aux • bpm:tv • CMT • MuchLOUD • MuchMore • MuchMoreRetro • MuchMusic • MuchVibe • PunchMuch National French cable/satellite networks MusiMax • MusiquePlus Third language cable/satellite networks ATN B4U Music • ATN MH 1 Audio-only, national music networks Galaxie (English & French) • Max Trax (English & French) Foreign networks Channel [V] (Taiwan) • Ritmoson Latino (Mexico) Defunct networks CoolTV • Edge TV • Video Italia