CMT (American TV channel)
| File:CMT.jpg | |
| Type | Cable network (Country Music) |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | National |
| Owner | MTV Networks (Viacom) |
Key people | Tom Freston - President, MTV Networks |
Launch date | March 6, 1983 |
Former names | None |
Official website | http://www.cmt.com |
- For other uses of this three-letter abbreviation, see CMT.
Country Music Television, or CMT as it often called, is a country music oriented cable television channel. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, and biographies of country stars of past and present. CMT is owned and operated by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom.
CMT was started on March 6, 1983 to compete with The Nashville Network (TNN), until Gaylord Entertainment Company (then-owner of TNN) bought the financially-strapped network in the early 1990s. CMT was positioned to play 24-hour country music videos, while TNN was geared toward programming lending itself to a "country lifestyle". In 1995, the 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, formed the CBS Cable division. Viacom eventually merged with Westinghouse/CBS, assuming ownership of CMT and TNN and folding them into the MTV Networks stable.
In 2000, Viacom changed the focus/format of TNN, eventually renaming it Spike TV. Since then, CMT has become a network designed after MTV, with current programming featuring 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, such as "Freebird: The Movie" and The Dukes of Hazzard. Much like sister channel VH-1, CMT has become more of a pop-culture channel in the last few years, with a growing emphasis on specials, countdowns and reality programs in lieu of music videos. There are also many complaints that it is shifting too far away from country music..
Its main competitor now is the Great American Country network, or "GAC", owned by The E.W. Scripps Company.
