CMT Music Awards moving to CBS

Show will move to CBS on heels of this year’s success

ViacomCBS has announced that on the heels of this year’s success, the CMT Music Awards – country music’s only entirely fan-voted award show – and its signature country music tentpole will have its global premiere exclusively on CBS starting in 2022. The annual ViacomCBS owned event will broadcast live from Nashville on CBS on date to be announced. For the 2022 event, CMT will kick off the company’s first ever Country Music Week by hosting week-long special programming and events capped by exclusive director’s cut airings of the CMT Music Awards later on CMT and various ViacomCBS platforms.

This year, the CMT Music Awards saw more than a 10% increase in total viewers and dominated as the No. 1 most social program across all of television for the night. Across the six ViacomCBS network simulcast, P18-34 ratings saw a +32% increase over last year’s event, according to Nielsen Early Ratings.

Celebrated for its high-powered, world premiere and cross-genre performances, the CMT Music Awards have aired live since 2005, delivering Nashville’s biggest party to music fans across the globe. The 2021 show, hosted by superstars Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown, featured the most ever first-time collaborations and blended-genre pairings in show history. Standout performances included H.E.R. + Chris Stapleton, Gladys Knight, Mickey Guyton + BRELAND, and NEEDTOBREATHE + Carrie Underwood, who remains the most-awarded artist in CMT Awards history with 22 wins.

The news comes following a fallout between CBS and Dick Clark Productions for the annual Academy of Country Music (ACMs) Awards which will return to Las Vegas next spring following two years in Nashville. According to The Wrap, CBS — which has aired the show since 1998 — has balked at a staggering demand of $22 million a year (which is up from the previous $20 million per year contract) to license the 2022 ACM Awards, after the show has seen a decline in ratings to nearly half of its viewership since 2018. Producers are shopping the show elsewhere, including NBC.

CBS has been America’s Most Watched Network for 13 consecutive seasons and the home of big entertainment events such as The GRAMMY Awards, The Tony Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors and more.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com