"Nashville" fans have been on a rollercoaster ever since ABC cancelled the show, the series ended its fourth season on a cliffhanger, and was then shopped around to other networks, before CMT hinted that the channel would become its new home. Now, that last bit of news is officially official, with the country music network announcing on Friday that "Nashville" will indeed be moving to the cable channel for season five.



"CMT heard the fans. The wave of love and appreciation they have unleashed for 'Nashville' has been overwhelming," said CMT president Brian Philips in a statement. "Nashville is a perfect addition to our evolving line-up of big music specials, documentaries and original series. We see our fans and ourselves in this show, and we will treasure it like no other network. Nashville belongs on CMT."



The country music outlet certainly seems like the perfect fit for the program, though the channel certainly kept fans on their toes over the past few days: CMT was expected to officially announce the "Nashville" pickup during the CMT Music Awards show on Wednesday, but that word never came, leaving Nashies wondering if the deal had gone south. Thankfully, it seems that all the involved parties (which include Lionsgate, ABC Studios, and streaming home Hulu) just needed a few more days to hammer out a deal to keep the show alive.



Speaking of keeping things alive, season four closed with a major cliffhanger, as Juliette's (Hayden Panettiere) private jet went off the radar, leaving estranged husband Avery (Jonathan Jackson) worried sick. While it's unclear how new showrunners Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick ("My So-Called Life," "thirtysomething") will handle that curveball, fans should be happy that they'll get to see the resolution to that storyline at all.



Those fans are part of the reason the show was revived in the first place, according to Lionsgate Television Group chairman Kevin Beggs, who said in a statement, "#Nashies, you helped make this possible."



Now all that's left is an official premiere date for season five. Stay tuned. (And sign up for a cable subscription if you don't have one already.)