Country music is as synonymous with Austin, Texas, as tacos, live performances and Franklin Barbecue. Jeff Nickler thinks the newly built Moody Center being home to the CMT Music Awards could be added to that list.
Nickler is the general manager of the Moody Center, a basketball arena and events venue on the University of Texas at Austin campus that was developed as a public-private partnership and opened in April 2022. He and Michael Owens, a vice president with venue developer Oak View Group, called Country Music Television executives nearly three years ago to discuss moving the show to Austin, and it paid off, garnering a huge audience.
"Last night we celebrated with a sold-out crowd and a worldwide CBS audience of millions as the CMT Music Awards were broadcast live from Oak View Group’s Moody Center ATX," Nickler said in a LinkedIn post the day after the April 2 show.
The hope is that viewers will come to Austin to visit the stores, hotels and other businesses across the city.
The CMT Music Awards broke ratings records, according to Variety. It marked the first time the awards show was held outside Nashville, Tennessee, after it was moved because of challenges finding a venue in the Music City.
More than 5.4 million people tuned in, according to Variety, a 5% increase over last year. It was also the most streamed program on Paramount+ and social media, with 2.6 million overall impressions. That was up from 2.5 million impressions in 2022.