Despite its new strategies and incorporation of visual elements popular to other genres, CMT Senior Vice President and General Manager explains that “CMT is devoted to keeping our viewers completely connected to country music…” (‘“Grand Ole Opry Live…”’). To do so, country music videos had to distinguish themselves as a genre by keeping traditional country values of storytelling and iconography prominent (Fenster, 1988, 285). In this way, the incorporation of visual aspects of “what country music represents” (i.e. cowboy boots, guitars, honky-tonks, love, etc.) was particularly important (Fenster, 1988, 285, 291).
While another strategy of MTV was to use quick cuts rather than telling a wholistic story, country music videos continued to stress coherent stories throughout their visual imagery to maintain the central element of storytelling. The Washington Post speaks to CMT’s successful efforts by stating, “CMT recognizes it needs a balance of modern and traditional… No matter how many times the network has to change its programming strategy to keep up with the latest trends, at the end of the day, it has a laser-sharp focus on what it needs to be about: country music.”
