CMT AWARDS TO CBS...
IN PLACE OF ACMS?

The CMT Music Awards will move to CBS, with an exclusive global premiere on the Eye starting in 2022. The news comes in the wake of ViacomCBS’s decision not to renew its deal with the ACM Awards, and several insiders say that the show will air next April in place of the ACMs.

Those same insiders are laying the blame for the breakdown in negotiations between CBS and MRC-owned dick clark productions’ ACMs show at the feet of MRC’s Modi Wiczyk, who reportedly asked for $22m—over the prior term’s price of $20m, despite the show’s poor ratings—at the start of renewal talks. ACM head Damon Whiteside’s hands were said to be tied by the MRC/dcp stance. Could the outcome have been different had Modi not sought this ill-timed cash grab?

The deal for the CMTs, a Viacom property, and the alleged maneuvering of the show into the ACM spot (if true) represent a huge win for CBS and a big bump in stature for CMT. ABC, meanwhile, recently renewed its deal for the CMA Awards.