Why CMT Picked Up Nashville From ABC, and When the Show Could Debut

Network president explains big swing

CMT president Brian Philips wasn't kidding when he told Adweek in March prior to his network's upfront presentation that the country-themed network's move into scripted series this year for the first time represented "a quantum leap."

At that point, he was referring only to Still the King (starring Billy Ray Cyrus as a washed-up, one-hit wonder who discovers he has a 15-year-old daughter), which debuted last week, and Million Dollar Quartet (inspired by the 2010 Broadway musical set in 1950s Memphis), which will air in November.

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