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Tuesday December 11th, 2001
CMTs Most Wanted Live moves to Gibson Bluegrass Showcase
Country Music Televisions popular CMT Most Wanted Live will move to the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase, Gibson Guitars performance venue and instrument-making facility at the Opry Mills complex. The daily show, featuring country stars in live performances and daily viewer-voted video countdowns, will begin airing from its new home in 2002.
CMTs Most Wanted Live is a perfect fit for the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase, said Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp. The Showcase was built to enhance the live experience by letting fans get close not only to the artists but also to the instruments that make the music.
With the move to the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase, CMT Most Wanted Live will air on a new Tuesday-Saturday schedule and will add live Saturday reports from backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, which is only a short walk from the Showcase stage.
We launched CMT Most Wanted Live just six months ago and it has quickly become destination viewing for fans nationwide who want to know whats happening now in the world of country music, from up-to-the-minute country news and the world premiere of new music videos, to live performances and interaction with todays most popular country stars, said Kaye Zusmann, Vice President, Program Development and Production, CMT. "In January well unveil a fresh look for this fan-interactive show from Nashvilles amazing Gibson Bluegrass Showcase, packing each episode with more news and information, and talking live to the stars on-set during the week and backstage at the Opry each Saturday night.
The Gibson Bluegrass Showcase is a vibrant location where, in addition to being a part of the CMT Most Wanted Live in-studio audience, visitors can observe the actual crafting of guitars, banjos and mandolins - instruments at the very heart of country music.
Dwight Yoakam & host Lance Smith Beginning Saturday, January 5, CMT Most Wanted Live will air Tuesday through Saturday one hour later than its current time slot. By adding the Saturday telecast, CMT will air a full two-hour block of live programming each Saturday night - CMT Most Wanted Live from 7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT followed by the world famous Grand Ole Opry from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT.
Were happy to become a part of CMT Most Wanted Live, said Grand Ole Opry general manager Pete Fisher. Were also thrilled to offer its viewers an exclusive inside glimpse of the Opry experience each weekend before they tune in to see their favorites perform on Grand Ole Orpy Live.
CMT Most Wanted Live, produced by Tom Forrest for Taillight Productions, was launched May 28 from Nashvilles new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The show has featured more than 60 in-person appearances by countrys biggest names and rising stars ranging from superstar and Hall of Fame member Dolly Parton to rising stars Nickel Creek and Pat Green. The Country Music Hall of Fame has been a great location for CMT Most Wanted Live, said Zusmann. CMT will continue to partner with the Hall of Fame on future projects.
CMT Most Wanted Live viewers are some of the networks most interactive fans. CMT receives tens of thousands of emails per week about the show, and CMTs web site, Country.com, has also experienced a remarkable surge in traffic, with the CMT Most Wanted Live pages frequently the most visited area on the site after the home page. In addition, Country.coms site traffic increases by roughly 50% during the shows live broadcast.
The Gibson Bluegrass Showcase opened in May, 2000, in the Opry Mills retail complex. In addition to a live performance venue, the 30,000-square-foot facility houses a retail store with instruments and Gibson wear, a restaurant and the headquarters of Gibsons Original Acoustic Instruments division, where visitors can watch skilled craftsmen making Gibson and Flatiron mandolins and banjos and Dobro resonator guitars.
Gibson, founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has produced classic models in every style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos. Headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.s family of brands includes Epiphone, Dobro, Flatiron, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Slingerland, Maestro, Trace Elliot and Baldwin, Chickering and Wurlitzer keyboards.
CMT, Americas No. 1 country music network, carries original programming, specials, and live concerts and events, as well as a mix of videos by established country music artists and new cutting-edge acts, including world premiere exclusive videos. Founded March 6, 1983, the network, owned and operated by MTV Networks, reaches more than 54.8 million households in the United States.
Dolly and Lance MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: Music Television, MTV2, VHI, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, TNN, CMT and the The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of nine digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks.
The Grand Ole Opry is a property of Gaylord Entertainment Company (NYSE: GET), a diversified entertainment company whose business operates in two groups: hospitality and attractions, and music, media and entertainment. Gaylord Entertainment is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
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