| CMT Music Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current: 2024 CMT Music Awards | |
| Awarded for | Achievements in country music videos voted on by fans |
| Location | Austin, Texas |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Various |
| First awarded | 1967 (as Music City News Awards) |
| Website | www |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | CBS CMT |
The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. After more than twenty years in Nashville, the awards ceremony is now held Austin, Texas, and is broadcast live on CBS, along with CMT (Country Music Television) and other Paramount Global networks. Voting takes place on CMT's website, CMT.com.
After MTV's acquisition of CMT in 2000, it is the oldest MTV awards show, having launched in 1967.
Beginning in 1967, the Music City News Awards were presented yearly by the now—defunct Music City News magazine. In 1988, The Nashville Network (TNN) began a fan—voted awards show dubbed the Viewers' Choice Awards to help the network celebrate its fifth anniversary. In 1990, the two awards shows merged to become the TNN/Music City News Country Awards.
The TNN contract with Music City News ended in 1999, and the magazine ceased publication shortly thereafter. Country Weekly became the presenting sponsor of the awards show in 2000, and the show was known as Country Weekly presents the TNN Music Awards. In 2001, as TNN began to phase out its association with country music, the decision was made to shift the awards show to sister network CMT. The 2001 show was simulcast on both networks and was called the TNN/CMT Country Weekly Music Awards. When the show moved permanently to CMT, Country Weekly ended its brief association with the production. During this era, viewers voted for the nominees by telephone or mail in traditional categories such as "Entertainer of the Year," "Male/Female Artist of the Year," "Song of the Year," etc. Most of the categories mirrored those on the CMA Awards and ACM Awards, except all awards were fan—voted[citation needed].
The awards show was completely retooled in 2002 as the CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards, named for the network's branding concept at the time for its most popular videos. The "Flameworthy" name was coined by program development vice president Kaye Zusmann, and aimed to symbolize the waving of lighters or similar lights at concerts (this was before the current negative meaning of the word flaming from the Internet became more commonplace). The show became more production—based, rather than awards—based, and was modeled after sister network MTV's Video Music Awards. In the process, the traditional awards were shifted to specifically honor the music videos of country artists.[1]
The show included several non—traditional categories highlighting especially funny, sexy, and patriotic videos; however, these categories were phased out over the years.[2] The show further differentiated itself from the CMA Awards and ACM Awards by showcasing bluegrass performers such as Alison Krauss and Earl Scruggs.[1]
In 2003, the show was moved to April but returned to June in 2009 to coincide with the CMA Music Festival (the renamed "Fan Fair") and the influx of tourists to Nashville as well as capitalize on a time when many of the artists would already be in Nashville at once.
The name of the show was changed to CMT Music Awards in 2005, although the format remained largely the same as in previous years.[3]
In 2020, the awards were delayed until October due to the COVID—19 pandemic, with that year's CMA Fest not going forward. Initially planned for October 14, a scheduling conflict with that year's Billboard Music Awards caused the ceremony to be pushed back to October 21.
On June 28, 2021, ViacomCBS (now known as Paramount Global) announced that the awards would move to broadcast television on sister network CBS and shift back to April beginning in 2022. [4][5] The ceremony's new scheduling would jettison the Academy of County Music Awards, which also had been typically held in April and historically broadcast by CBS; the network subsequently declined to renew its contract to air the ACM Awards, citing declining viewership in comparison to increased rights fees demanded by Dick Clark Productions.[6][7][8]
In 2023, after more than twenty years in Nashville, the CMT Music Awards were hosted for the first time at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.[9][10][11]
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Main article: List of CMT Music Awards ceremonies |
Carrie Underwood is the most awarded artist overall in CMT Music Awards' history (2005–present), with 25 wins.[12]