CMT (Canada)

Country Music Television (CMT)
Launched	December 31, 1994
Owned by	Corus Entertainment (90% & managing partner) Viacom (10%)
Country	Canada
Broadcast area	National
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Formerly called	New Country Network (NCN) (1994-1996)
Website	www.cmt.ca
Availability
Satellite
Bell ExpressVu	Channel 575
Star Choice	Channel 583
Cable
Available on most Canadian cable systems	Check local listings, channels may vary

CMT is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel which airs country music and entertainment oriented programs in the form of music videos, award shows, concerts, sitcoms and more. CMT is owned by Corus Entertainment (90%) and Viacom (10%).

History

Original logo of CMT. Used from 1996 to 2006

Before the launch of CMT Canada, the American service, CMT had been available in Canada since 1984. In 1994, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensed a series of new Canadian specialty channels and among them was New Country Network (NCN). The license was originally granted to the partnership of Maclean-Hunter and Rawlco Communications. However, because of its policy that foreign services could not directly compete with Canadian services, the CRTC removed CMT from the list of eligible foreign services on June 6, 1994. By the time of NCN's launch, Maclean-Hunter had been purchased by Rogers Communications. NCN launched on December 31, 1994 and on January 1, 1995 cable operators were no longer allowed to offer CMT. In retaliation, CMT launched a complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement and threatened to cease carriage of videos from Canadian artists. After months of negotiations, the matter was settled when it was announced that CMT would purchase a minority stake in the service. NCN relaunched as CMT Canada on October 31, 1996 with a similar format to the American service. The majority interest was acquired by Shaw Communications at the same time; Shaw subsequently transferred its ownership stake to Corus Entertainment, a separate company owned by the same shareholders, 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 companies are no longer required to drop the foreign service.

Programming

See also: List of programs broadcast by CMT (Canada)

When CMT launched as NCN on December 31, 1994, the CRTC required that 90% of the station's programming consist of music videos. [1] The CRTC dropped that requirement to 70% on February 28, 2001. [2] The percentage was further reduced to 50% on February 28, 2006. [3] Currently, CMT airs music videos throughout the day in blocks titled CMT Wake Up, CMT Music, Pure Country, CMT Weekend and Big 12 Karaoke, along with the weekly programs CMT30, CMT Ultimate and the Chevy Top 20. In the evening, CMT airs the syndicated TV series' Reba, Hope & Faith, Roseanne, and Home Improvement along with country music-related series such as The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search, Cheerleader Nation and Three Wishes. Like its American counterpart, CMT also airs country/rural lifestyle movies on the weekend.

Hosts/Personalities/Presenters

Current hosts

• Casey Clarke (Chevy Top 20)
• Ashley Kranz (CMT Music)
• Paul McGuire (CMT 30)
• Elissa Lansdell (CMT Dedicated, Correspondent for CMT 30)
• Beverley Mahood (CMT Ultimate)

Past hosts

• Cliff Dumas
• Shannon Gaye
• Gnarley Charley
• Stu Jeffries (Now at EZ Rock 97.3 FM in Toronto)
• Nicola Jones
• Colleen Rusholme (Now at EZ Rock 97.3 FM in Toronto)
• Greg Shannon
• Nancy Sinclair
• Tamara Stanners

See also

Country Music Portal

• CMT (US)

External links

• Official website
• CMT Canada Media website
• Corus Entertainment