NASHVILLE, TENN. — It’s hard out there for a cable channel in 2016. You need to provide a broad slate while still maintaining a sharp identity. In other words, executives must program a network for a general audience but avoid becoming a bland mish-mash of scripted series and reality shows. Oh, and try to lure in the millennials, because advertisers love them.
Then there’s Country Music Television. CMT is, as the millennials say, #blessed. No matter how many times the network has to change its programming strategy to keep up with the latest trends, at the end of the day, it has a laser-sharp focus on what it needs to be about: country music.
The Viacom-owned network uses this to its distinct advantage, even though it faces the same challenge as sister channels MTV and VH1 — how to attract people who still lament the lack of music videos. CMT invests heavily in music, particularly as its native Nashville has exploded into the mainstream. But the network — which presents its new lineup at the cable upfronts in New York on Thursday — also prioritizes its musical roots in everything, including original scripted series, appearing on CMT this year for only the second time in network history.
“We have one of the clearest brands in all of television. Having that clear a filter really is a head start, right?” said Jayson Dinsmore, executive vice president of development, during an interview with CMT’s top brass. “Our format may change, our shows may change, but our core values will remain the same. It’s all driven by the sensibilities of our biggest stars.”
Wait, you say: Isn’t CMT’s top-rated original show a bunch of young fools partying “Jersey Shore”-style, except it’s called “Party Down South”? How is that focused on country music stars?
It’s about the stars’ fans. “We specifically looked at who was listening to country music and said, ‘Let’s put some of those shows on our channel.’ … It’s a much younger country music fanbase,” Dinsmore said.
In recent years, the genre has been dominated by popular singers who swap cowboy hats for baseball hats and bring with them a very young audience.
Alas, CMT recognizes it needs a balance of modern and traditional. “Party Down South” will end for good after five seasons in April. And while “Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge” and “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team” are still performing solidly, executives admit they’re looking for more “sophistication” in the network’s unscripted slate. This led to several documentaries last year, including “Johnny Cash: American Rebel,” produced in partnership with the Cash family; and “Urban Cowboy: The Rise and Fall of Gillies,” tracing the phenomenon of the 1980 film.
Two more documentaries are set to premiere at SXSW this spring: “American Bandit: The Birth of Southern Cool,” about the making of 1970 hit “Smokey & the Bandit,” and “Chicken People,” centered on show chicken breeders.
What about the music? CMT banks on its longtime “Crossroads” specials where it mixes genres. Upcoming episodes feature Luke Bryan and Jason Derulo, along with Thomas Rhett and Nick Jonas. The network also still plays music videos in a four-hour block each morning.
