'Nashville' season 6 release date news: Hayden Panettiere, Jonathan Jackson announce show's return

The promotional poster for "Nashville" season 6.Facebook/NashvilleCMT

"Nashville" season 6 is finally coming and CMT has announced its official premiere date. The country music drama's lead stars, Hayden Panettiere and Jonathan Jackson, revealed the series' release date on the official "Nashville" Twitter page on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

"We have a special announcement from @haydenpanettier and @JonathanJackson," the post captioned a short video. "Hey everybody, we're so excited to be back with the new season of 'Nashville' on Thursday, Jan. 4, on CMT," Panettiere and Jackson said.

In "Nashville" season 6, fans will see Juliette (Panettiere) living with the aftereffects of revealing she has stolen Maddie's (Lennon Stella) original song. On the other hand, the future of Highway 65 remains uncertain.

Other stars that will be seen in the series' return are Clare Bowen, Chris Carmack, Charles Esten, Sam Palladio and Maisy Stella. Unfortunately, viewers will not see the comeback of Connie Britton, who played the role of Rayna James since the show started.

"Nashville" originally aired on ABC in 2012. However, the network canceled the series in 2016, but it was picked up by CMT. Since then, it has been receiving stable ratings. Season 5B's premiere coincided with its first half's airing and its debut in the network. It even became CMT's most-watched original telecast.

The show has also succeeded in pulling new audiences for CMT since it transferred. For the record, the network revealed 87 percent of the adult viewers aged 18 to 49 who watched the season 5B premiere were new audiences.

Once again fans will see the return of their favorite fictional country music stars as they follow their journeys in the city's music scene. "Nashville" season 6 will also feature the rise of the new musical performers and songwriters that are trying their best to make a name in the business.

"Nashville" season 6 will return on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018, on CMT.