CMT Picks Up ‘Nashville’

CMT will keep the music playing for cancelled ABC series Nashville, picking up the country music-themed drama series for a fifth season, the network announced Friday.

OTT service Hulu will stream episodes of the series, produced by Lionsgate, ABC Studios and Opry Entertainment, the day after airing on CMT, said network officials. The serivce has carried  previous seasons of the series, as as cable network AXS TV. 

Nashville was cancelled by ABC earlier this year after four seasons on the air. The series, which follows the exploits of two female country music artists, generated more than 8 million weekly views across all platforms, according to CMT.

CMT earlier this week launched its first scripted series, Still The King, starring Billy Ray Cyrus, and is in production on a second series, Million Dollar Quartet. 

“CMT heard the fans. The wave of love and appreciation they have unleashed for ‘Nashville’ has been overwhelming,” said Brian Philips, President of CMT in a statement. “Nashville is a perfect addition to our evolving line-up of big music specials, documentaries, and original series. We see our fans and ourselves in this show and we will treasure it like no other network. Nashville belongs on CMT.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.