CMT
The comedy marks the highest-rated original series premiere ever for the Viacom-owned cable network.
There will be no "achy breaky hearts" at CMT.
The Viacom-owned country-music themed cable network has renewed Billy Ray Cyrus scripted comedy Still the King for a second season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The renewal comes as little surprise as the hourlong comedy holds the distinction as having the highest-rated series premiere ever for CMT. Its June 8 bow collected more than 4.7 million total viewers with three days of delayed viewing and a 1.03 rating among adults 18-49 (across three networks, including TV Land and Nick@Nite). The series, which heads into its Aug. 14 season finale, is averaging 4.5 million viewers per week.
"Working on the series has been a career highlight,” said executive producer and star Billy Ray Cyrus. “Thanks to the fans for embracing these crazy characters and all of their beautiful flaws. We’re going to take this mess to a whole new level next season.”
“The success of Still the King is a wonderful start for our move into scripted programming,” said Jayson Dinsmore, exec vp development at CMT. “Both charming and irreverent, this series is like nothing else on television and we can’t wait to continue the journey.”
The renewal comes as CMT continues to make scripted programming a priority. In addition to Still the King, the cabler rescued country music drama Nashville after ABC's cancellation and will debut the 22-episdode series in early 2017. Next up, CMT has eight-episode limited drama Million Dollar Quartet.
