Plus, Nashville had to make some big cuts while making the transition from broadcast network to a cable channel almost entirely untested with scripted programming, so perhaps the decision to producer fewer episodes had financial motivations.
Nashville still has eleven more episodes to bring us in Season 5, which received a 22-episode order back when CMT stepped up to resurrect the music-driven drama.
Unfortunately, Season 6 won’t be quite as big as previous years, with only 16 episodes lined up for a premiere at some point in 2018.
That’s hardly a dealbreaker, though, since shorter TV seasons usually mean stronger storytelling.