'Nashville' officially renewed for season 5 at CMT
"Nashville" has officially been renewed for Season 5 on CMT, Variety has learned. Hulu will continue to make "Nashville" episodes available to stream the day after they air on CMT.
"CMT heard the fans. The wave of love and appreciation they have unleashed for 'Nashville' has been overwhelming," said Brian Philips, President of CMT. "'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."
"Nashville' has long been a fan favorite show on Hulu and we are so proud to continue to make new episodes available for fans to stream the day after they air," said Craig Erwich, SVP and Head of Content, Hulu. "We look forward to bringing even more episodes of this acclaimed series to its passionate and devoted audience."
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"CMT and Hulu are the perfect combination for our iconic and beloved series 'Nashville' and we want to thank the incredible fans for their unwavering support — #Nashies, you helped make this possible," said Kevin Beggs, Chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group. "We also want to extend our appreciation to the State of Tennessee, City of Nashville, and Ryman Hospitality for their unending support. They have been a key ingredient to the continued success of this show and we're thrilled to extend our partnership for a fifth season."
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"We always had faith that we would find a way to bring 'Nashville' back to its devoted fans, and we're very proud to be in partnership with CMT and Hulu to extend the life of this series," said Patrick Moran, Executive Vice President, ABC Studios.
On Tuesday, Variety reported that CMT was the venue that had landed the former ABC series, after four to five different platforms expressed interest in picking up the cancelled drama. Lionsgate was aggressive in shopping "Nashville" around after it was cancelled in May.
ABC axed the series after four seasons. Though its fans — known as "Nashies" — are rabidly passionate, the numbers weren't strong enough for the broadcast network to renew it, with an average 1.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.7 million viewers overall, according to Nielsen's "live plus-7" estimates.
For the fifth season, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are on board as showrunners. The duo were brought on to the show before ABC cancelled it.
The series is produced by Lionsgate, ABC Studios, and Opry Entertainment. The deal, negotiated by Lionsgate Television Group President Sandra Stern on behalf of Lionsgate and ABC Studios, Sarah Levy of Viacom Kids and Family Group on behalf of CMT, and Hulu executives, is an orchestrated initiative to ensure that "Nashville" fans will continue to have the same level of access to their favorite show.
No word yet on a premiere date for Season 5 or potential cast shakeups.
