'Nashville' Premiere Breaks CMT Records, Next Episode Airs Tonight

On the January 12 episode of Nashville, Maddie crosses paths with Clayton.
Joseph David-Jones makes his first appearance in the role that is expected
to be pivotal this season.

CMT seems pleased with the early ratings for its new primetime soap opera, which was canceled last May after four seasons on ABC. The critically acclaimed season premiere of Nashville was the most watched original cable program on Thursday, January 5, generating record-breaking numbers and now ranks as the most-watched original telecast in CMT history, delivering more than 3.1 million fans across two networks on CMT and Nick at Nite (more than 2 million to CMT alone) for a stellar 1.34 rating with A 18-49 and 1.76 rating with W 18-49, making it CMT’s highest rated original series ever. The numbers jump even higher with A 25-54 (1.49) and W 25-54 (2.04).

On CMT alone, the premiere notched an impressive .80 rating with A 18-49 and .93 rating with A 25-54, delivering 78% new viewers to the network. With women, the series pulled a 1.03 rating with W 18-49 and 1.26 with W 25-54, the highest rated telecast for this demo in CMT history. The debut topped off a strong week for CMT, which saw its highest rated week since 2014 with A 18-49.

The premiere was a hit on social as well receiving overwhelmingly positive reaction from the fans, ranking as #1 on Nielsen Social Content ratings series & specials for premiere night with #NashvilleCMT trending for 4 hours in the US. The brand new social aftershow “NashChat” reached more than 1 million fans via a Facebook live chat on CMT’s page.

The next episode airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT only on CMT. In "Let's Put It Back Together Again," Maddie (Lennon Stella) begins an internship at a recording studio and meets a street musician named Clayton Jones (Joseph David-Jones). Avery struggles producing a young YouTube sensation. Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) meets her guardian angel.

Watch a sneak peek below.