Nashville fans won't have to wait until Jan. 5 to see (part of) the Season 5 premiere. CMT has announced that the first hour of Season 5's first episode will air three weeks earlier than anticipated, on Dec. 15.

CMT announced the news on Thursday (Dec. 1) via a Facebook video that features Charles Esten.

"To all you 'Nashies' out there, as our thanks for saving our show, we're going to give you the first hour of our two-hour premiere early," Esten -- who plays Deacon Claybourne on the show -- says in the video above. "Enjoy!"

The first hour of Nashville's Season 5 premiere will begin at 9PM ET on Dec. 15 on CMT; CMT will then air the full two-hour premiere at 9PM ET on Jan. 5. The network picked up Nashville for a fifth season in early June, following ABC’s cancellation of the TV drama in mid-May, and thanks in part to fan demandNashville 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,” Nashville creator Callie 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.”

Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, hired prior to ABC’s decision to cancel Nashville, are the TV drama’s Season 5 showrunners.

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