Early life
Lance Smith was born David Lance Smith in Alabama on September 27, 1978. He moved all over as a child, but settled in Franklin, Tennessee.
Smith's interest in acting was first evident in church with a performance in "The Passion Play," that gave him an audience of thousands of people.
Soon after high school graduation, Smith moved from his home of Franklin, Tennessee to Los Angeles, eventually becoming an extra on many television sitcoms. He then landed acting roles in country music-related jobs, which would foreshadow his Country Music Television career, starring in a trio of country music videos, with two featuring him as the lead male. Then he landed an audition with some country music superstars.
Career
Smith landed a six-month job as a host for The Dixie Chicks' "Fly" tour, along with Nathan Blackburn on MTV's The Real World, entertaining tens of thousands of people each night between acts.
Soon after the tour ended, Smith landed an interview with Country Music Television to be their first video jockey.
Lance was CMT's first-ever VJ, joining CMT on April 28, 2001, as the host of CMT's new request show, CMT Most Wanted Live. Smith moved over to Top 20 Countdown in December 2001, as well as hosting other CMT specials, remaining a fan favorite.
Smith was the host of CMT's second season of Can You Duet which aired on CMT in June 2009.
In November 2009, it was announced that Lance would leave CMT and the Top 20 Countdown at the end of the year and return to acting.
On August 6, 2012, Lance joined the program, The Daily Buzz , alongside actor Charles Divins; veteran TV anchor Lisa Spooner; and radio personality Jessica Reyes, replacing Andy Campbell, Mitch English, and Kia Malone, thus being the new on-air team. Original co-host Andrea Jackson remains with the program, though now serves as a technology expert and correspondent for the GalTime feature segments.
In July 2015, the Studio 18 Podcast launched with Smith as its primary host.
Total Request Live was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. The series featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by musicians, actors, and other celebrities to promote their newest works to the show's target teen demographic.
Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid 1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Mike Keith is the radio play-by-play voice of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans. His signature phrase is an emphatic and raspy “Touchdown Titans!”，especially pronouncing "Titans" with a glottal stop after each Titan touchdown, and a loud and drawn out cry of 'SSAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK' after every sack.
CMT Music is an American pay television channel and a sister network to CMT. It is part of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. It showcases country music videos, using the same 8-hour programming wheel schedule as its sister networks.
Robert Gibson Kingsley was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: American Country Countdown (ACC) and Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40.
CMT is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned as a joint venture between Corus Entertainment and Paramount Networks Americas, owners of the flagship CMT channel in the United States.
Evan Ragland Farmer, Jr. is an American business owner, television host, radio host, actor, musician, designer/customizer, and author. He is best known for his lead role as Jerry O'Keefe in the MTV Film and follow up television series 2gether, and as host and carpenter within the home-makeover television genre including Emmy-nominated While You Were Out (TLC), Freestyle (HGTV), and Door Knockers (DIY).
Melissa Margaret Peterman is an American actress and comedian. She has played the role of Barbra Jean in the television comedy series Reba, appeared as Bonnie Wheeler in the ABC Family/Freeform series Baby Daddy, appeared as Brenda Sparks in The Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon, and was host of ABC Family's Dancing Fools, ABC's Bet on Your Baby, and CMT's The Singing Bee.
Donnie Simpson is a longtime American radio DJ as well as a television and movie personality. He hosted The Donnie Simpson Morning Show on Washington, D.C. radio station WPGC-FM from March 1993 to January 29, 2010. Currently, he hosts The Donnie Simpson Show on D.C.-based radio station WMMJ-FM, which began airing on August 17, 2015. Simpson is the first urban-format radio personality to have an annual salary over $1 million without being syndicated.
Charlie Chase is an American radio and television host best known for his work on The Nashville Network program Crook & Chase.
WNFN is a Top 40 (CHR) formatted radio station in the Nashville, Tennessee market, broadcasting a Top 40 format. Its transmitter site is in Whites Creek, Tennessee and its studios are in Berry Hill, Tennessee.
Country Countdown USA is a nationally syndicated weekly country music top-30 chart countdown program hosted by Lon Helton.
Top 20 Countdown is a former chart countdown program on CMT revolving around popular country music videos. Hosted by Lance Smith through most of its run, it premiered weekly on Friday mornings, with several reruns through the weekend and Monday, launching on January 3, 2001; a previous weekly countdown show through CMT's early years featured a countdown of only twelve popular videos. The first episode was the top 20 videos of 2001. Smith departed the series at the end of 2009, with Evan Farmer taking over from then until November 2012; the remainder of the series' run was either unhosted or had guest hosts.
The year 1970 in radio saw the debut of a nationally syndicated music countdown show and the incorporation of NPR.
Can You Duet was an American reality-competition show on CMT. The show was produced by FremantleMedia, the same company that produces American Idol.
Katie Cook is an English actress, host and correspondent with the Country Music Television network in the United States. She has been with the network since 2001. She currently hosts CMT Insider. Cook often appears as the host of CMT's live or recorded segments from red carpet events and has interviewed Taylor Swift, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. She formerly appeared as host of CMT Most Wanted Live from 2002 until its cancellation in 2004.
Keith Bilbrey is an American country music disc jockey and television host in Nashville, Tennessee. He served as a disc jockey at Nashville's WSM, as an announcer on the Grand Ole Opry, and as the host of TNN’s Grand Ole Opry Live. He is also the show announcer for Huckabee, a variety show hosted by Mike Huckabee, on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
CMT Hot Twenty is a weekly live music video show that counts down the twenty most popular country music videos. The show features a live audience, in-studio performances, and interviews. It premiered January 5, 2013, on CMT and airs Saturday and Sunday mornings. It replaced the long-running Top 20 Countdown that aired from 2001 to 2012 and is similar to CMT Most Wanted Live, which aired from 2001 to 2004 and featured a live daily countdown.
The Week in Jams, is MTV2's sole hip-hop video block. Its a 2-hour top 15 countdown, it aired on Sundays at 11AM ET/PT and 11PM ET/PT. Hosted by DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God, and Sofi Green. The series was canceled on May 26, 2013.
The 2022 CMT Music Awards, the 56th edition of the awards ceremony, are to be held in Nashville, Tennessee on April 11, 2022, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium and locations in and around Music City. The Awards, which have aired on CMT since 2002, will have its "global premiere" exclusively on CBS in 2022. The ceremony will be hosted by CMT winner Kelsea Ballerini and actor Anthony Mackie. This is Ballerini's second time hosting.
