Reveals New Teaser and First Episode Description for Final Season of Nashville
On the heels of record ratings growth, CMT has announced a multi-platform winter slate of original programming including the premiere dates for new docu-series Music City, from the creator of The Hills and Laguna Beach, and CMT Crossroads: Kesha and Old Crow Medicine Show, as well as three new short-form digital series for YouTube: “How To Wear,” “Street Art Stories,” and “The Downtown Farmer.” CMT is also debuting a new teaser for the final season of Nashville, and revealing the first episode description. In the coming weeks, CMT will announce several new pilots.
The news comes on the heels of a strong year for CMT, including 51 consecutive weeks of year-over-year ratings growth, which is the longest active growth streak among all ad-supported cable. This quarter alone, CMT is generating the highest year-over-year gain of any Top 50 ad-supported cable channel in Women 18-49. Furthermore, CMT finished the 2017 Fiscal Year up +12% among Women 18-49 from the prior year and earned its highest-rated year since 2014. (L+SD Competitive Growth Streak as of December Week 2, 2016 based on Adult 18-49 coverage ratings, Weekly Total Day year-over-year growth among ad-supported cable networks. CMT Fiscal Year: October-September).
New docu-series Music City from famed unscripted executive producer Adam DiVello, the creator of iconic shows such as The Hills and Laguna Beach, will premiere on Thursday, March 1st at 10 pm ET/PT. Filmed in Nashville, the eight-episode series follows a group of young emerging artists chasing their dreams of success in the music industry, while struggling to balance their personal lives and relationships.
Fresh off a pair of Grammy-nominations, critically-acclaimed pop singer/songwriter Kesha will join Grammy Award-winning Americana band Old Crow Medicine Show for an all-new CMT Crossroads collaboration premiering Wednesday, December 6th at 10 pm ET/PT. Filmed in Nashville, home to both artists, the episode will feature performances of their biggest songs including selections from Kesha’s latest No. 1 album Rainbow and Old Crow Medicine Show fan-favorite “Wagon Wheel.”
As previously announced, the final season of Nashville will premiere on Thursday, January 4th at 9 pm ET/PT. With New Year’s Eve looming, Deacon (Charles Esten) looks to distract himself from his own loneliness, but falls short despite the best efforts of people around him. After an onstage meltdown, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) seeks to rid herself of self-doubt and the burden of unforgiving country music fans from an unlikely source. Maddie (Lennon Stella) gets invited to perform at a benefit in Los Angeles where she meets Jonah Ford (Nic Luken), pop music’s newest and hottest young star. Following their personal and professional split, Gunnar (Sam Palladio) and Scarlett (Clare Bowen) struggle to find their voices as solo artists. Will (Chris Carmack) attempts to keep smiling after his own break-up with Zach (Cameron Scoggins). A new teaser clip can be viewed here. Nashville ranks as CMT’s highest-rated and most-watched show in the network’s history, averaging 2.1M weekly viewers (L+7).
Earlier this month, it was announced that the country music soap would end after next summer’s sixth season finale. Executive producer Marshall Herskovitz, who took over the series two seasons on CMT along with partner Ed Zwick, states, “All of us on Nashville are so incredibly grateful to the show’s fans, who convinced CMT to give us a chance to keep telling the story of these remarkable characters. And we want to return the favor with a final season that celebrates all the joys and passions, twists and turns — and amazing music! — that made Nashville such an exciting journey for the last six years.”
ABC canceled the series after season four. Last summer, CMT picked it up along with SVOD partner Hulu to continue the journey due to overwhelming fan support. The series is produced by Lionsgate, ABC Studios, and Opry Entertainment.
