'Nashville' Season 5 Reportedly Set to Premiere in December

Charles Esten had some big news at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday night (Aug. 12): information about Nashville's Season 5 premiere.

According to Esten, the fifth season of the TV drama will premiere in December. The Opry shared the news on social media during the singer-slash-actor's appearance; Sounds Like Nashville reports that show creator Callie Khouri was also in attendance. However, a CMT spokesperson tells TV Line that a premiere date has not yet been set.

Following ABC’s cancellation of Nashville in mid-May, and thanks in part to fan demand, CMT picked up the show for a fifth season in early June. Nashville will be broadcast and streamed on CMT, and also streamed on Hulu, which currently carries the show’s previous seasons.

“It’s certainly a good fit for CMT as they try and get into a scripted universe,” Khouri says. “Our show is a quality show just in terms of production; we spend a lot of money making it look great. I think it’s a really good fit.”

Prior to ABC’s decision to cancel the show, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz had been hired as Season 5’s showrunners. The show’s production company, Lionsgate, has long-term deals with Nashville‘s castmembers, but it’s been reported that Will Chase (aka Luke Wheeler) and Aubrey Peeples (aka Layla Grant) are unlikely to return, and that Esten, Sam Palladio, Jonathan Jackson, Clare Bowen, Lennon Stella, Maisy Stella, Chris Carmack, Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton will all be back.