Country Music Television, or CMT as it is usually called, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, and reality programs. CMT is owned and operated by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom.
History
Early years: 1983-1991
CMT was launched on March 5, 1983 at 6:19 PM CST[1], created and founded by Glenn D. Daniels and uplinked from the Video World Productions facility in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Daniels put together the investor group of Telestar Corporation and the penny stock company Blinder and Robinson in a 3-way ownership split.
Glenn D. Daniels was the creator, founder, Program Director and first President of the network, originally called CMTV but always "Country Music Television." (The "V" was dropped in response to a complaint by competitor MTV). CMT beat its chief competitor, The Nashville Network (TNN), on the air by two days. CMT was positioned to play country music videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while TNN was geared toward programming lending itself to a "country lifestyle". The very first video clip to air on CMT was a performance clip of country music legend Faron Young's classic hit, "It's Four in the Morning".
Gaylord years: 1991-1997
In 1991, Opryland USA and its owner Gaylord Entertainment Company acquired CMT in a $30 million deal.[2] The network was sold by a group led by radio station owner Robert Sillerman and record producer James Guercio.[2] Opryland USA and owner Gaylord also owned CMT's major competitor The Nashville Network.
In September 1993, CMT went international, launching CMT Europe as part of the Sky Multichannels package. By 1998, Gaylord reported $10 million in losses from CMT and decided cease the declining network on March 31, 1998.[3] Gaylord, however, had planned emulate the successful model created by E!, by selling large progamming blocks to other European channels, but these plans never occurred.[3]
The third CMT logo following the original CMT(V) and second CMT logo, introduced after the acquisition by Gaylord and replaced in 2004. The logo pictured is the third version, introduced in 2000; the first version had chrome letters with a signature red rose, interchanged with a fully worded "Country Music Television" logo (see
http://www.cmtcountry) and the second logo had a red "C", a yellow "M" and a blue "T" all in black squares similar to a child's alphabet blocks.
In 1994, Gaylord made its first major format change for CMT by adding several new music video programs, including Big Ticket, Jammin' Country, The Signature Series, CMT Delivery Room, and CMT Top 12 Countdown.[4] All shows eventually were canceled 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.[5] 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.[6]
CBS/Viacom years: 1997-present
In 1997, both networks were sold to Westinghouse, the owner of the CBS network. The acquisition of the two country-themed networks, along with the formation of the ill-fated "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 FSN 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 changed the format of TNN, eventually renaming it The National Network and then simply Spike. Viacom also changed the format of CMT, modeling it after sister networks MTV and VH1 to include shows and movies in addition to music videos. Over time, the number of music videos on the network has continued to decrease with the late May 2006 rebranding of digital cable network VH1 Country to CMT Pure Country.
Despite the decrease in music videos, CMT has experienced significant ratings gains since its acquisition by MTV Networks in 1999. As of 2007, the channel is available in more than 83 million homes.[7]. As of 2009, the network now reaches 88 million homes.
Current programming
CMT's current programming features country music-oriented shows (i.e. country music videos, taped concerts, etc.), country lifestyle-oriented shows, and old shows and movies that prominently feature country or Southern-rock music. Much like sister channels MTV and VH1, CMT has become a pop-culture channel in the last few years, with added emphasis on specials, countdowns, and reality programs as well as music videos.
See also
References
External links
