, or '''CMT''' as it often called, is a
Country Music oriented
Cable Television channel. Programming includes
Music Video s, taped
Concert s,
Movie s, and
Biographies of country stars of past and present. CMT is owned and operated by
MTV Networks , a subsidiary of
Viacom .
CMT was started on
March 6 ,
1983 to compete with
The Nashville Network (TNN) , until
Gaylord Entertainment Company (then-owner of TNN) bought the financially-strapped network in the early
1990s . CMT was positioned to play 24-hour country music videos, while TNN was geared toward programming lending itself to a "country lifestyle". In 1995, the networks were sold to
Westinghouse , the owner of the
CBS network. The acquisition of the two country-themed networks, along with the formation of the ill-fated "
Eye On People " network, formed the
CBS Cable division.
Viacom eventually merged with Westinghouse/CBS, assuming ownership of CMT and TNN and folding them into the
MTV Networks stable.
In ''. Much like sister channel
VH-1 , CMT has become more of a pop-culture channel in the last few years, with a growing emphasis on specials, countdowns and reality programs in lieu of music videos. There are also many complaints that it is shifting too far away from country music..
Its main competitor now is the
Great American Country network, or "GAC", owned by
The E.W. Scripps Company .
from 1990 to 2003]]
