2022 CMT Music Awards to Air Live on CBS

This is a BIG change!

Written by Lauren Laffer
2022 CMT Music Awards to Air Live on CBS
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 09: Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown speak onstage for the 2021 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena on June 09, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for CMT)

After a massive ratings success this year, the CMT Music Awards will begin to air live on CBS beginning in 2022. According to a press release, ViacomCBS will allow the awards ceremony to make its global premiere on CBS on a to be determined date.

In 2022, CMT will air the company’s first ever Country Music Week, hosting a week of special programming and events, including a director’s cut of the CMT Music Awards.

The decision came after the 2021 CMT Music Awards saw more than a 10% increase in total viewers. The show also landed as the Number One most social program on television that evening. Ratings in the category of 18-34 saw a 34% increase over the previous year.

On top of the CMT Awards, CBS is also the home to the GRAMMY Awards, The Tony Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors, among others programs.

News of the shift comes after it was determined that the ACM Awards would not return to CBS after the network reportedly balked at dick clark production’s request for $22 million to host the show. The April 2021 was the final show CBS had as part of its contract for the ACM Awards and has hosted the show since 1998.