June 10, 2016

Nashville fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Less than a month after the country music drama was cancelled by its original network ABC, CMT has picked up the show for a fifth season. Its producer, Lionsgate TV, had maintained since May's finale that they would find a new home for Nashville, and even decided to end Season 4 with a cliffhanger rather than go with an ending to wrap up all the storylines.

The cable network issued the following statement:

"CMT heard the fans. The wave of love and appreciation they have unleashed for Nashville has been overwhelming," said network President Brian Philips. "Nashville is a perfect addition to our evolving line-up of big music specials, documentaries, and original series. We see our fans and ourselves in this show and we will treasure it like no other network.  Nashville belongs on CMT."

It is being reported that 22 episodes have been ordered for the new season, which is in-line with a typical season for the show when it was on broadcast TV. A deal is also in place with streaming service Hulu, which will continue to make new episodes available the day after they originally air.

No time frame for a return has been announced as of yet, nor have any changes to the cast, who are still under contract for future seasons. What we do know is that two new showrunners have already been hired to helm the series going forward.