Wikipedia

CMT (Canadian TV channel)

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 74.14.52.86 (talk) at 23:12, 8 February 2023 (→History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the U.S. channel of the same name, see CMT (American TV channel).

CMT is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned as a by Bell Media with a licensing agreement from Paramount Networks Americas, owners of the flagship CMT channel in the United States. Originally an ad-supported network, it transitioned to premium, non-commercial operation when it was transferred to Bell, but allowed it to operate multiplex feeds (similar to Crave).

CMT
CountryCanada
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerBell Media (brand licensing from Paramount Networks Americas)
Sister channelsCTV Comedy Channel
Much
MTV
Crave
History
LaunchedJanuary 1, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-01-01)
Former namesNew Country Network (1995–1996)
Country Music Television (1996–2006)
Links
Websitecmt.ca

As with its U.S. counterpart, CMT previously devoted a large amount of its programming to country music, with such programming as music videos and concert specials. Over time, the channel shifted its focus towards family-oriented general entertainment such as sitcoms, to the point where music programming was eventually axed in August 2017.

It is one of three Paramount-branded channels that are owned by Bell; the companies also partner on MTV and MTV2 (which are wholly owned by Bell).

History

Prior to the launch of CMT Canada, the U.S.-based country television network, Country Music Television, had been available in Canada since 1984, one year after the channel's launch in the United States.[1]

In June 1994, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensed a series of new Canadian specialty television channels; among the ones whose licence was granted was The Country Network, whose programming provisions required it to primarily feature country music videos (a minimum of 90%). The licence was granted to a partnership between Maclean-Hunter (which owned 60% majority control) and Rawlco Communications (which owned the remaining 40%).[2]

At this time, the CRTC had a policy that if a Canadian specialty service was licensed and that service's format was competitive with a foreign service's format that was licensed to operate in Canada, the foreign service could be dropped from the list of channels eligible for cable carriage in Canada.[2] Due to Country Music Television's competitive format, the CRTC terminated CMT's eligibility rights in Canada as a foreign service on June 6, 1994.[3] Television distributors such as cable and satellite television operators could continue distributing Country Music Television until The Country Network began operations.[2]

In March 1994, one year before the channel's launch, Maclean-Hunter had been purchased by Rogers Communications.[4]

 
First and only New Country Network logo, used from 1995 to 1996
 
First CMT logo, used from 1996 to 2006

On January 1, 1995, the channel launched as New Country Network (NCN). On that date, Canadian pay television service providers were not allowed to offer Country Music Television.[5] In retaliation for being barred from Canada, the U.S. service launched a complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement and ceased carriage of videos by Canadian artists without major U.S. record deals.[6]

 
Second CMT logo, used from 2006 to 2008
 
Third CMT logo, used from 2008 to 2010
 
Fourth CMT logo, used from 2010 to 2015
File:CMT Canada 2015 logo.png
Fifth CMT logo, used from 2015 to 2021

After months of negotiations, the matter was settled when it was announced that CBS Cable, then owners of CMT, would purchase a minority stake in the service. NCN was relaunched as CMT on October 31, 1996.[6] The majority interest was acquired by Shaw Communications at the same time; it was later included in the spinoff of the broadcasting assets then owned by Shaw as Corus Entertainment in 1999. The controversy also resulted in an effective change to CRTC policy – if a foreign channel is already available in Canada and a new Canadian equivalent is subsequently licensed, cable providers are no longer required to drop the foreign service.

In 2016, as part of the removal of the genre protection rules, CMT was migrated to the CRTC's new standard conditions of license for discretionary services; these changes removed the requirement for CMT to air any music programming at all. Corus stated in its description of service for CMT that it would be devoted to comedy and reality programming, films, and "one of a kind music programming". Despite the changes, Corus must still invest at least 11% of CMT's annual gross revenue to fund the production of Canadian music videos, but they no longer necessarily have to be for country music videos.[7]

These programming changes took effect on August 28, 2017, when CMT dropped all country music video programming from its schedule. The change in programming was widely criticized by stakeholders in Canada's country music industry, due to the loss of what had been a major promotional platform for Canadian performers; Corus stated that it would still promote Canadian country music through its other platforms (including its country music radio stations and some Global programming).[8][9] This change left Canada without a country music related channel until 2019-20, when rival broadcaster Stingray Group launched Stingray Country across most major and select minor TV providers across Canada. Meanwhile, the channel's U.S. counterpart would continue with both its country music lineup.

Corus' ownership would be longer-running, and the process started on June 10, 2021 with early due diligence with a then-undisclosed sales partner, which led to Corus Entertainment selling CMT to an unknown third party. On July 7, 2021, Bell Media (owner of the CTV Television Network) announced that it had to finalize an agreement to "eject" CMT from Corus Entertainment, while Paramount Global remained interest. The sale was granted on October 29, 2021, and the sale was completed on November 13, 2021, and with it and CRTC approval, it converted from a commercial network to a premium, non-commercial service, while relocating operations from Corus Quay to 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, possibly due to a CTV News Toronto update, that Corus Quay was "too far away" from 299 Queen Street West. In February 2022, in a response to concerns from the CRTC over its near-monopoly on the ownership of its pay television channels in the United States (citing Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, MTV Classic, The Movie Channel and Logo), Paramount Networks Americas sold its 10% stake in the service to Bell Media for $284 million, giving them full ownership and making it a sister channel to Much.

In June 2022, the CRTC gave Bell Media approval for an amendment to its nature of service, allowing it to operate multiplex feeds; with the amendment, two new licenses were given, named Crave Music 1 and Crave Music 2. The licenses were granted on August 30, 2022. One of the multiplex feeds' licenses was used to launch CMT Music.

Programming

When CMT was launched as New Country Network on January 1, 1995, the CRTC required that 90% of the station's programming consist of music videos.[10] The CRTC dropped that requirement to 70% on February 28, 2001, and reduced it even further to 50% on February 28, 2006.[11][12] With the retirement of genre protection rules in 2016, CMT was no longer required to air music videos, leading to the channel dropping music programming altogether the following year in favor of comedy programming—drawn primarily from off-network reruns of sitcoms.

CMT's current programming consists primarily of acquired sitcoms, talk shows, game shows, reality shows, and lifestyle programming, along with reruns of Canadian-produced series sourced from Corus' sister networks to fulfill Canadian content obligations. In addition to shows sourced from its U.S counterpart, CMT previously produced its own original programming (such as Karaoke Star Jr., Tori & Dean: Cabin Fever, & The Wilkinsons), with the much of channel's country music-related programming hosted by Paul McGuire.

Current programming

CMT Play Time

CMT

Power Box

Programming blocks

  • CMT Play Time - This airs during school time (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time) weekdays and is primarily targeted at preschoolers. It consisted of various animated series and is a Canadian version of AFN Family. It debuted on November 13, 2021, when Bell Media took ownership of the channel and when CMT was changed from an advertiser-supported service to a commercial-free service.
  • Country music programming - From its launch in 1995, CMT aired country music programming, but it was removed from its schedule on August 28, 2017, when CMT ceased licensing as a country music channel.
  • Non-Stop - This airs from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and airs shows like Unikitty!, Duncanville and Bless the Harts. It debuted on November 15, 2021, two days after the transition of control from Corus Entertainment to Bell Media.
  • Power Box - This block airs programming aimed at a male audience and airs from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
  • Non-Stop Weekends - This block airs the same programming aired on Non-Stop. It debuted on November 20, 2021, and is an offshoot to the latter block. It airs from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m..
  • Popcorn Pranks - This block airs Saturdays and airs movies. It airs every evening starting at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Former hosts/presenters

CMT Music (Canada)

CMT Music
CountryCanada
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Ownership
OwnerBell Media
Sister channelsCMT
Crave
CTV Comedy Channel
MTV
MTV2
Much
History
LaunchedNovember 30, 2022; 22 months ago (2022-11-30)

CMT Music is the multiplex channel of the premium television service CMT. It is wholly owned by Bell Media with a licensing agreement the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. It showcases country music videos, and is broadcast as a 24-hour service. Unlike its U.S. coutnerpart, the channel operates as a HDTV service.

Programming

CMT Music has distributed in 4 different blocks since its launch in 2022:

  • Pure Vintage features a mix of classic and vintage country music videos that were filmed and aired prior to 2000, including older performance video clips of songs. The block airs for 30 minutes, twice a day.
  • The Edge Bluegrass, neo-traditionalist country, and Americana music videos are featured.
  • Studio 330 Sessions Live sessions recorded at CMT's studios in Nashville (330 refers to CMT's Nashville address, 330 Commerce Street). Segments from the sessions continue to air in the channel's current rotation.
  • Pure 12 Pack Countdown As with all of MTV's countdown shows, a limited pool of videos was voted on by fans online and sorted by popularity without industry or recording metrics.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Will country music videos set off culture war? Some facts to keep in mind as U.S. trade negotiators threaten retaliatory strikes". Toronto Star. February 11, 1995.
  2. ^ a b c "Decision CRTC 94-284". CRTC. June 6, 1994.
  3. ^ Larry LeBlanc (December 24, 1994). A Breakthrough Year for Canadian Acts. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 53–. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Canadian Media Giants to Merge The New York Times 1994-03-09
  5. ^ "U.S. country TV drops Canadian videos". Toronto Star. January 10, 1995.
  6. ^ a b "TRUCE DECLARED IN THE CANADIAN COUNTRY MUSIC WAR". CNN. August 21, 1995.
  7. ^ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2016-39". CRTC. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  8. ^ "CMT Is Giving The Boot To Country Music". FYIMusicNews. August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  9. ^ "Canada's Country Music Television To Stop Playing Music Videos". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  10. ^ Decision CRTC 94-284
  11. ^ Decision CRTC 2001-154
  12. ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-52
  13. ^ Fragomeni, Carmela (October 21, 2014). "Remembering CHCH's Nicola Jones". The Hamilton Spectator. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CMT_(Canadian_TV_channel)&oldid=1138296196"