Whatever happened to …

… CMT television?

Growing up in mid-Western Ontario and working on a farm as a summer hand, it was only natural to the fellow I was working with that the radio was always on to CKNX from Wingham.  Between the local news reports, there was an endless flow of country music.  The advice given to me…

“It’s great music when you’re on the tractor ploughing all night”

The other word of advice was…

“Where else will you find out about the auctions?”

And it was true for all the above.  Of course, with peer pressure, we normally listened to CKLW from Windsor for the top hits of the day.  That’s where I got an appreciation for Motown music that lives on today.

The only problem was that the playlist was kind of short and so you’d punch up CKNX for a change.  They were side by side on the radio push buttons.

Now, considerably older, and living in a rural setting again, over the air television is pretty limited and cable television non-existent.  But there’s satellite television.  I was pleased when we bought our “package” and noted that CMT (Country Music Television) was part of it.

I actually set the receiver to tune to CMT first thing in the morning so that I could listen to videos and listen to music while going through my wakeup routine.

But then things changed.

The Grand Ole Opry, which was broadcast live on Saturday nights, was pulled in favour of other shows.  Then, gasp, the morning show was replaced by reality television and old movies.  Things just kept disappearing as CMT evolved.  Now, I can’t find any music shows on there any more.

Why is this an issue now?

Part of my morning routine was to change the channel to something else right away.  It was to either another music channel or to a news station.  This morning, I finally had enough and dug around in the menus to find how to set a timer and changed it to something that I know will be reliable entertainment in the morning.  At least for now.

For a Sunday, your thoughts?

• Have you ever listened to CKNX?
• How about CKLW?
• How about CMT?
• Do you have a favourite media start to your day?  Music, television, or something else to get the blood pumping?
• In a world of specialty television stations, has a favourite of yours changed format?
• Do you remember push buttons on the radio to access presets?
• Did Bruce Springsteen have it right?

As always, I’d be most interested in your comments.  Please let us know in the comments below.

This post is part of a regular Sunday morning series.  You can read (and comment) on any of them here.