CMT (American TV channel) facts for kids
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Spanish (via SAP audio track) |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Media Networks (Paramount Global) |
| Parent | MTV Entertainment Group |
| Sister channels |
List
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| History | |
| Launched | March 5, 1983 |
| Former names | CMTV (1983) |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Service(s) | DirecTV Stream, fuboTV, Philo, Sling TV, YouTube TV, Vidgo TV, Hulu with Live TV |
CMT (which originally stood for Country Music Television) is an American TV channel you can watch if you pay for cable or satellite TV. It started on March 5, 1983, and was the first channel in the whole country dedicated to country music.
CMT used to show only country music videos, concerts, and special shows about country music stars. Over time, it started showing other types of programs too. These include reality shows, lifestyle programs, and even sitcoms for everyone to enjoy.
As of 2018, about 92 million homes in the U.S. could watch CMT. The main office for CMT is in New York City, but it also has offices in Nashville, Tennessee, which is a big city for country music.
Contents
History of CMT
Early Years (1983–1991)
CMT was first called CMTV, which meant Country Music Television. It was started by Glenn D. Daniels in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The channel officially began broadcasting on March 5, 1983. The very first music video shown on CMT was "It's Four in the Morning" by Faron Young.
A few months later, another TV channel called MTV (which also used "TV" in its name) had a legal issue with CMTV. Because of this, the channel changed its name to just CMT.
In 1991, a company called Gaylord Entertainment bought CMT. This company also owned another country music channel called The Nashville Network. In 1992, CMT started its first international channel, CMT Europe. Later, in 1995, CMT also launched a version in Brazil. However, CMT Europe stopped broadcasting in 1998 because it was losing money.
In 1994, CMT changed its programming a bit by adding new music shows. In 1995, CMT stopped playing videos by Canadian artists who didn't have record deals in the U.S. This happened because a Canadian channel replaced CMT in Canada. But by 1996, CMT started playing those videos again after it bought a part of the Canadian channel, which then became a Canadian version of CMT.
Under CBS and Viacom (1997–2017)
In 1997, CMT and The Nashville Network were sold to Westinghouse, which owned CBS. Then, in 2000, Viacom bought CBS, and CMT became part of Viacom Media Networks (which also owns MTV). To avoid showing the same types of programs, The Nashville Network slowly stopped showing country music and later changed its name to Spike (and then Paramount Network).
Even though CMT started showing less music, more people began watching it. By 2007, over 83 million homes could watch the channel. In 2012, CMT announced its first adult cartoon series called Bounty Hunters.
On June 10, 2016, CMT announced that it would continue the TV series Nashville after another network had canceled it. CMT ordered a fifth season of the show.
Changes Since 2017
In 2017, Viacom made some changes, and CMT started to focus more on unscripted programming. This meant that the sixth season of Nashville would be its last.
As part of this change, CMT announced a new reality series called Music City in September 2017. This show was created by the same person who made The Hills. Music City is set in Nashville and premiered on March 1, 2018.
In 2019, Viacom bought Pluto TV, which is a free streaming service. They then launched several CMT-themed channels on Pluto TV. These included a channel for Western movies (CMT Westerns) and a channel dedicated to the show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.
In 2021, CMT also started showing the second season of The Last Cowboy. This reality series was created by Taylor Sheridan, who also helped create the popular show Yellowstone.
What's on CMT?
Today, CMT mostly shows TV comedies and movies that it has bought from other companies. The channel still plays country music videos for about five hours every morning. It also has a show called CMT Hot Twenty on weekend mornings.
CMT has always been one of Paramount's music channels that shows the most music. Most of CMT's original shows are about or related to Nashville, Tennessee, where the channel's studios are located.
CMT plays mostly popular country music songs. But it also sometimes shows videos from other types of country music, like Americana. Some special events on CMT include the yearly CMT Music Awards and CMT Crossroads. CMT Crossroads brings together country music artists with musicians from other types of music. CMT also shows award specials from MTV and Nickelodeon sometimes.
CMT Music
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Media Networks |
| Parent | MTV Entertainment Group |
| Sister channels | CMT |
| History | |
| Launched | August 1, 1998 |
| Former names | VH1 Country (1998–2006) CMT Pure Country (2006–16) |
CMT Music is another TV channel that is related to CMT. It only shows country music videos. It plays videos in an eight-hour loop, similar to other music video channels owned by Paramount Global.
History of CMT Music
This channel first started on August 1, 1998, and was called VH1 Country. It was a spin-off channel from VH1 that focused on country music videos. On May 27, 2006, the channel changed its name to CMT Pure Country. This was done to make it clear that the channel was part of the CMT family of country music channels.
On January 4, 2016, the channel's name changed again to CMT Music. Not much changed about the channel's programming, except for new on-screen graphics.
Over time, fewer TV providers offer CMT Music. This is partly because many people now watch videos using streaming video services. Also, CMT Music is only available in standard definition, not high definition. Paramount Global, the company that owns CMT Music, now offers other options like channels on Pluto TV that play country music. For example, in 2021, Spectrum removed CMT Music from most of its TV packages.
What's on CMT Music?
Currently, CMT Music plays an eight-hour loop of music videos. The channel is simply called CMT Music in TV guides. It doesn't have many special themed blocks of videos anymore. Sometimes, it promotes special events like the CMT Music Awards by showing videos from nominees and winners.
When it was called CMT Pure Country, it used to have specific blocks of programming. For example, it had Pure Vintage for older country music videos. It also had The Edge for different styles of country music like bluegrass. There were also Studio 330 Sessions, which showed live performances recorded at CMT's studios in Nashville.
Other CMT Channels Around the World
- CMT Europe: This channel started in October 1992 and closed in March 1998.
- CMT Brazil: This channel launched in July 1995 and closed in March 2001.
- CMT Australia: This channel started on July 1, 2020. It replaced another channel and focuses on country music videos.
- CMT (Canada): This is a Canadian version of CMT. While Viacom owns a small part of it, the channel is mostly owned by Corus Entertainment. This Canadian channel has changed a lot and no longer shows country music. Instead, it focuses on classic TV comedies.
- The Nashville Network: This used to be a rival channel to CMT. It became a sister channel to CMT in 1997. It then changed its programming to general entertainment to avoid showing the same things as CMT. It later became Spike TV in 2003 and then Paramount Network in 2018.
See also
In Spanish: CMT (canal de televisión estadounidense) para niños
