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| CMT Music Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current:2024 CMT Music Awards | |
 | |
| Awarded for | Achievements in country music videos voted on by fans |
| Location | Austin, Texas |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Various |
| Formerly called | Music City News Awards |
| First award | 1967 (as Music City News Awards) |
| Website | www |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | CBS CMT |
TheCMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show forcountrymusic videos and television performances. The ceremony launched in 1967 as Music City News Awards; it is the oldest award show currently airing underParamount Global. The ceremony originally aired onTNN, prior to its parent company's acquisition of former rival networkCountry Music Television in 1991. The show would then air on CMT from 2001 to 2021. Beginning in 2022 until the pause in 2025, the show was broadcast live onCBS.[1][2]
Beginning in 1967, the Music City News Awards were presented yearly by the now—defunctMusic City News magazine.[citation needed] In 1988,The Nashville Network (TNN) began a fan—voted awards show dubbed theViewers' Choice Awards to help the network celebrate its fifth anniversary; two were broadcast in1988 and1989.[citation needed] In 1990, the two awards shows merged to become theTNN/Music City News Country Awards.[citation needed] TNN's contract withMusic City News ended in 1999, and the magazine ceased publication shortly thereafter.[citation needed]
Country Weekly became the presenting sponsor of the awards show in 2000, and the show was known asCountry Weekly presents the TNN Music Awards.[citation needed]
In 2001, as TNN began to phase out its association with country music, the decision was made to shift the awards show to sister networkCMT.[citation needed] The 2001 show, known as theTNN/CMTCountry Weekly Music Awards, was simulcast on both networks.[citation needed]
When the show moved permanently to CMT,Country Weekly ended its brief association with the production.[citation needed] During this era, viewers voted for the nominees by telephone or mail in traditional categories such as "Entertainer of the Year," "Male/Female Artist of the Year," "Song of the Year," etc.[citation needed] Most of the categories mirrored those on theCMA Awards andACM Awards, except all awards were fan—voted[citation needed].
The awards show was completely retooled in 2002 as theCMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards, named for the network's branding concept at the time for its most popular videos. The "Flameworthy" name was coined by program development vice president Kaye Zusmann, and aimed to symbolize thewaving oflighters or similar lights at concerts (this was before the current negative meaning of the wordflaming from the Internet became more commonplace).[citation needed] The show became more production—based, rather than awards—based, and was modeled after sister networkMTV'sVideo Music Awards. In the process, the traditional awards were shifted to specifically honor the music videos of country artists.[3]
The show included several non—traditional categories highlighting especially funny, sexy, and patriotic videos; however, these categories were phased out over the years.[4] The show further differentiated itself from the CMA Awards andACM Awards by showcasingbluegrass performers such asAlison Krauss andEarl Scruggs.[3]
In 2003, the show was moved to April but returned to June in 2009 to coincide with theCMA Music Festival (the renamed "Fan Fair") and the influx of tourists to Nashville as well as capitalize on a time when many of the artists would already be in Nashville at once.[citation needed]
The name of the show was changed to theCMT Music Awards in 2005.[5]
In 2020, the awards were delayed until October due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, with that year's CMA Fest not going forward.[citation needed] Initially planned for October 14, a scheduling conflict with that year'sBillboard Music Awards caused the ceremony to be pushed back to October 21.[citation needed]
On June 28, 2021, ViacomCBS (now known asParamount Global) announced that the awards would move to broadcast television on sister networkCBS and shift back to April beginning in 2022.[6][7] CBS subsequently declined to renew its broadcast rights to the ACM Awards (which had also traditionally been held in April), citing declining viewership in comparison to increased rights fees demanded byDick Clark Productions.[8][9][10]
In 2023, after more than twenty years in Nashville, the CMT Music Awards were hosted for the first time at theMoody Center inAustin, Texas.[11][12][13]In February 2025,Bruce Gillmer ofParamount International Networks announced a one-year pause for a few selected events scheduled for 2025, including the CMT Music Awards, as Paramount seeks "to reimagine and optimize [our] events slate going forward".[14][15]
Carrie Underwood is the most awarded artist overall in CMT Music Awards' history (2005–present), with 25 wins.[16]
| Year | Recipient |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Jason Aldean Lady A Taylor Swift Carrie Underwood Zac Brown Band |
| 2011 | Jason Aldean Kenny Chesney Brad Paisley Lady A Taylor Swift |
| 2012 | Jason Aldean Luke Bryan Kenny Chesney Eric Church Toby Keith Miranda Lambert Carrie Underwood |
| 2013 | Jason Aldean Luke Bryan Florida Georgia Line Hunter Hayes Tim McGraw |
| 2014 | Jason Aldean Luke Bryan Florida Georgia Line Miranda Lambert Keith Urban |
| 2015 | Luke Bryan Florida Georgia Line Sam Hunt Little Big Town Blake Shelton |
| 2016 | Luke Bryan Florida Georgia Line Thomas Rhett Chris Stapleton Carrie Underwood |
| 2017 | Jason Aldean Luke Bryan Florida Georgia Line Chris Stapleton Keith Urban |
| 2018 | Kelsea Ballerini Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman Miranda Lambert Maren Morris Hillary Scott Carrie Underwood |
| 2019 | Kane Brown Luke Combs Dan + Shay Thomas Rhett Carrie Underwood |
| 2021 | Kelsea Ballerini Gabby Barrett Kane Brown Luke Combs Chris Stapleton |
| 2022 | Kane Brown Luke Combs Walker Hayes Cody Johnson Carly Pearce Lainey Wilson |