'Nashville' to Return on CMT?

News of the cancellation of your favorite series is not always the dire news that it used to be. With so many networks and content platforms clamoring for original programming, a cancelled series, if it has any loyal following at all, stands a decent chance of being picked up by a new network. So it is with Nashville when it was cancelled by ABC after four seasons.

Lionsgate Television, which produces Nashville, says that several networks were interested in picking up the series after its cancellation and a vocal campaign by its fans on social media. It looks like the winner in the competition for the series will be CMT, although a deal with the cable network is not final yet. Lionsgate, however, is confident enough about the deal to talk openly about it.

Nashville will likely continue on CMT as it was on ABC. Lionsgate says it has contracts in place for all the cast members to return, and showrunners Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz will also remain with the series wherever it goes.

Ratings for Nashville averaged just under 7 million total viewers per episode on ABC, an audience size that would make CMT very happy.