of a five-hour music video block, seen during the early morning hours, as well as CMT Hot Twenty, which airs on weekend mornings. Of Viacom's former music channels (not counting its suite of all-music digital channels), CMT has historically been the most devoted to music-related programming and previously set aside at least six hours of its daily schedule for music videos during the overnight and morning hours. In addition, most of CMT's original programming is centered or related to the Culture of Dallas or Nashville, Tennessee, where the network's studios are located. CMT's music mix is primarily focused on mainstream hit country songs, but also includes occasional videos from crossover, Americana, and alternative acts (dubbed "CMT Edge"). Specials seen on the network include the annual CMT Music Awards (since 2022, in a simulcast with CBS), featuring awards in various categories and performances by country music artists, and CMT Crossroads, which pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres. It also carries simulcasts of MTV and Nickelodeon's own award specials as part of Paramount's common "road block" event programming strategy. CMT Music CMT Music (formerly CMT Pure Country) is an American pay television channel and a sister network to CMT. It exclusively carries country music videos in an 8-hour programming wheel schedule similar to several other video-exclusive networks owned by Paramount Global. History The network was first launched as VH1 Country, a country music video-oriented spinoff of VH1. The channel launched on August 1, 1998, predating the merger of CBS Cable networks TNN and CMT into Viacom. On May 27, 2006, the channel rebranded as CMT Pure Country to realign the CMT brand to solely represent Viacom's country music-related programming. On January 4, 2016, the network's name was changed to CMT Music. Outside of the addition of full-length video tags throughout videos and new imaging, no major changes came to the channel's programming. In 2015, the network discontinued specific video blocks due to that year's cutbacks throughout Viacom, including music video programmers. The network has lost carriage throughout time with the growth of streaming video options, being carried solely in standard definition, and CMT no longer being considered a prime network among those in Paramount Global's suite. CMT Pure Country has generally been depreciated by Paramount Global in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers for other options such as its Pluto TV streaming service, which provides