What will CMT Hot 20 Countdown do this weekend?

I might be creating drama where there is none, but I’m sincerely wondering what CMT’s flagship show is going to do this weekend when their show airs. As the name of the show suggests, it contains the 20 best country music videos across the land. But does it? Does it, really? When I worked at CMT (before I was laid off in dramatic fashion, and that’s not a dig at CMT, I’m grateful for my time there), there was a super secret formula powerful people used in forming the list of 20 and I won’t get into it mostly because I have no idea what the super secret formula was.

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Some of my best friends came from my time at CMT so as the drama has unfolded with Jason Aldean, I think about my friends working on Hot 20 Countdown. They’re responsible for putting together an entertaining show with the best country music has to offer, and they’re good at their jobs. I don’t know if it’s the elephant in the production room up there in Nashville, but everywhere else in the country knows that Jason Aldean has the most-watched video in country music. What is a producer supposed to do when the #1 video in the country has been dropped entirely from the channel? Yes, that’s right. CMT pulled the music video so it will not air at all on CMT. Should producers of the show…

Pretend it doesn’t exist?

Put Jelly Roll at #1?

Hold a spot open in memoriam?

Sometimes I run with ludicrous thoughts so what if they left the #1 video open like athletes sometimes do if a teammate passes away? Announce that taking the top spot is Jason Aldean with “Try That In A Small Town” but due to decisions above our pay grade, we will not be showing the video. Kind of like the missing man formation in a military flyover. Football players wear patches on their uniforms. Or this, basketball players paying tribute to Kobe Bryant…

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I’ll be the first to say Jason’s music video is inflammatory but not because of anything related to racism. It’s just terrible timing to put a video out that feeds into division that already exists. I dig deeper into my thoughts in this post, but if peace is what we’re after, the music video isn’t helping at all.

So what is a music video countdown show to do when the most-watched video of the week is blackballed? Do producers put together a subtle nod to the fans? No, that would get them fired. These people have families and responsibilities. I guess they just have to “go along to get along.” It’s unfortunate CMT would put them in this situation because the show is going to lose credibility and relevancy if they don’t, in some way, acknowledge what’s going on with Jason Aldean.

-Out of the Wilderness