The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The ceremony launched in 1967 as Music City News Awards; it is the oldest award show currently airing under Paramount Global.

CMT Music Awards
Current: 2024 CMT Music Awards
Awarded forAchievements in country music videos voted on by fans
LocationAustin, Texas
CountryUnited States
Presented byVarious
First awarded1967 (as Music City News Awards)
Websitewww.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards
Television/radio coverage
NetworkCBS
CMT

The ceremony originally aired on TNN, prior to its parent company's acquisition of former rival network CMT in 1991. The show would then air on CMT from 2001 to 2021. Beginning in 2022, the show is currently broadcast live on CBS.[1]

History

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Early history

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Beginning in 1967, the Music City News Awards were presented yearly by the now—defunct Music City News magazine.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] In 1990, the two awards shows merged to become the TNN/Music City News Country Awards.[citation needed] TNN's contract with Music City News ended in 1999, and the magazine ceased publication shortly thereafter.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

2001—2021

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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.[citation needed] The 2001 show, known as the TNN/CMT Country Weekly Music Awards, was simulcast on both networks.[citation needed]

When the show moved permanently to CMT, Country Weekly ended its brief association with the production.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed] 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.[2]

The show included several non—traditional categories highlighting especially funny, sexy, and patriotic videos; however, these categories were phased out over the years.[3] The show further differentiated itself from the CMA Awards and ACM Awards by showcasing bluegrass performers such as Alison Krauss and Earl Scruggs.[2]

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.[citation needed]

The name of the show was changed to the CMT Music Awards in 2005.[4]

In 2020, the awards were delayed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with that year's CMA Fest not going forward.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

2021—present

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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. [5][6] 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.[7][8][9]

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.[10][11][12]

Major awards

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Year Video of the Year Male Video of the Year Female Video of the Year Breakthrough Video of The Year
2002 Kenny Chesney – "Young" Kenny Chesney – "Young" Martina McBride – "Blessed" Chris Cagle – "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out"
2003 Toby Keith – "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" Toby Keith – "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" Martina McBride – "Concrete Angel" Joe Nichols – "Brokenheartsville"
2004 Toby Keith – "American Soldier" Kenny Chesney – "There Goes My Life" Shania Twain – "Forever and for Always" Dierks Bentley – "What Was I Thinkin'"
2005 Keith Urban – "Days Go By" Kenny Chesney – "I Go Back" Gretchen Wilson – "When I Think About Cheatin'" Gretchen Wilson – "Redneck Woman"
2006 Keith Urban – "Better Life" Kenny Chesney – "Who You'd Be Today" Carrie Underwood – "Jesus, Take the Wheel" Carrie Underwood – "Jesus, Take The Wheel"
2007 Carrie Underwood – "Before He Cheats" Kenny Chesney – "You Save Me" Carrie Underwood – "Before He Cheats" Taylor Swift – "Tim McGraw"
2008 Taylor Swift – "Our Song" Trace Adkins – "I Got My Game On" Taylor Swift – "Our Song" Kellie Pickler – "I Wonder"
2009 Taylor Swift – "Love Story" Brad Paisley – "Waitin' on a Woman" Taylor Swift – "Love Story" Zac Brown Band – "Chicken Fried"
2010 Carrie Underwood – "Cowboy Casanova" Keith Urban – "'Til Summer Comes Around" Miranda Lambert – "White Liar" Luke Bryan – "Do I"
2011 Taylor Swift – "Mine" Blake Shelton – "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" Miranda Lambert – "The House That Built Me" The Band Perry – "If I Die Young"
2012 Carrie Underwood – "Good Girl" Luke Bryan – "I Don't Want This Night to End" Miranda Lambert – "Over You" Scotty McCreery – "The Trouble With Girls"
2013 Carrie Underwood – "Blown Away" Blake Shelton – "Sure Be Cool If You Did" Miranda Lambert – "Mama's Broken Heart" Florida Georgia Line – "Cruise"
2014 Carrie Underwood – "See You Again" Blake Shelton – "Doin' What She Likes" Miranda Lambert – "Automatic" Cassadee Pope – "Wasting All These Tears"
2015 Carrie Underwood – "Something in the Water" Luke Bryan – "Play It Again" Carrie Underwood – "Something in the Water" Sam Hunt – "Leave the Night On"
2016 Tim McGraw – "Humble and Kind" Thomas Rhett – "Die a Happy Man" Carrie Underwood – "Smoke Break" Chris Stapleton – "Fire Away"
2017 Keith Urban – "Blue Ain't Your Color" Keith Urban – "Blue Ain't Your Color" Carrie Underwood – "Church Bells" Lauren Alaina – "Road Less Traveled"
2018 Blake Shelton – "I'll Name the Dogs" Blake Shelton – "I'll Name the Dogs" Carrie Underwood – "The Champion" (featuring Ludacris) Carly Pearce – "Every Little Thing"
2019 Carrie Underwood – "Cry Pretty" Kane Brown – "Lose It" Carrie Underwood – "Love Wins" Ashley McBryde – "Girl Goin' Nowhere"
2020 Carrie Underwood – "Drinking Alone" Luke Bryan – "One Margarita" Carrie Underwood – "Drinking Alone" Gabby Barrett – "I Hope"
2021 Carrie Underwood – "Hallelujah" (featuring John Legend) Kane Brown – "Worship You" Gabby Barrett – "The Good Ones" Dylan Scott – "Nobody"
2022 Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood – If I Didn't Love You" Cody Johnson – "'Til You Can't" Miranda Lambert – "If I Was a Cowboy" Parker McCollum – "To Be Loved By You"
2023 Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown – "Thank God" Jelly Roll – "Son of a Sinner" Lainey Wilson – "Heart Like a Truck" Jelly Roll – "Son of a Sinner" Megan Moroney – "Tennessee Orange"
2024 Jelly Roll – "Need a Favor" Jelly Roll – "Need a Favor" Lainey Wilson – "Watermelon Moonshine" Warren Zeiders – "Pretty Little Poison" Ashley Cooke – "Your Place"

Winning records

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Carrie Underwood is the most awarded artist overall in CMT Music Awards' history (2005–present), with 25 wins.[13]

By category

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  • Video of the Year: Carrie Underwood; ten wins[14]
  • Male Video of the Year: Kenny Chesney; five wins[15]
  • Female Video of the Year: Carrie Underwood; eight wins[14]
  • Collaborative Video of the Year: Carrie Underwood; four wins
  • CMT Performance of the Year: Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean (tie); two wins each[14]

CMT Artists of the Year

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Year Recipient
2010 Jason Aldean
Lady A
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Zac Brown Band
2011 Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Lady A
Taylor Swift
2012 Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Eric Church
Toby Keith
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood
2013 Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Hunter Hayes
Tim McGraw
2014 Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Miranda Lambert
Keith Urban
2015 Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Sam Hunt
Little Big Town
Blake Shelton
2016 Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
2017 Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
2018 Kelsea Ballerini
Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Hillary Scott
Carrie Underwood
2019 Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Dan + Shay
Thomas Rhett
Carrie Underwood
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Kelsea Ballerini
Gabby Barrett
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
2022 Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Walker Hayes
Cody Johnson
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson
2023 Not Held

References

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  1. ^ Grein, Paul (2021-06-28). "CMT Music Awards Set to Move to CBS in 2022". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  2. ^ a b Havighurst, Craig (June 12, 2002). "Front-row video". The Tennessean.
  3. ^ Cooper, Peter (May 15, 2002). "Look for sexy, funny, patriotic at CMT video awards show". The Tennessean.
  4. ^ Cooper, Peter; Brad Schmitt (April 11, 2005). "You might be a redneck if you prognosticate correctly". The Tennessean.
  5. ^ White, Peter (2021-06-28). "CMT Music Awards Move To CBS In 2022". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  6. ^ Willman, Chris (2021-06-28). "CMT Music Awards to Air on CBS Beginning in 2022". Variety. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  7. ^ "CBS Balks at Airing 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards Over $22 Million Asking Price, Declining Ratings". TheWrap. June 16, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2021-08-19). "Academy Of Country Music Awards To Stream On Amazon Prime Video In Milestone For Award Shows". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  9. ^ Willman, Chris (2021-08-19). "Academy of Country Music Awards Will Bypass Networks, Stream Exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in 2022". Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  10. ^ "Austin or Nashville to host 2024 CMT Music Awards?". 3 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Rock, Country and Blues Merge at 2023 CMT Music Awards in Austin". 2 April 2023.
  12. ^ "'CMT Music Awards' Moving to Austin from Nashville for 2023 CBS Telecast". 3 November 2022.
  13. ^ Celebretainment, By. "Carrie Underwood wins big at CMT Music Awards". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-10-22.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ a b c "Carrie Underwood Is Now The Most Awarded Artist In CMT History". Forbes. 7 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Male Video of the Year winners". CMT. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009.
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