Opry 100th Special Scores Big Ratings, Offers Lessons for Awards Shows
The Grand Ole Opry’s 100th Anniversary celebration on Wednesday, March 19th was a big hit. Featuring mostly traditional country artists like Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Reba McEntire, Marty Stuart, and Clint Black—with rousing tribute performances by Carrie Underwood for Randy Travis, and Ashley McBryde singing her emotional “Girl Goin’ Nowhere”—it really did justice to the majesty of country music’s most storied institution.
To read Saving Country Music’s full recap of the event, CLICK HERE.
The 3-hour special on NBC also did really well in the ratings, despite the lack of current, mainstream star power aside from Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, and a couple others. The Opry 100 pulled in 5.23 million viewers, making it the most watched overall program for network television on Wednesday.
Speaking of lacking current star power, Jelly Roll was scheduled to perform on the presentation, but backed out last minute due to illness. Jelly Roll was supposed to sing “Jackson” with Ashley McBryde. Post Malone filled in for him. Some also expected Jelly Roll to be surprised with an invitation to join the Opry. A video presentation explaining the importance of the invitation played moments before Jelly Roll’s performance slot. But if it was planned, Jelly Roll was not there to accept it.
Though the Opry 100 Celebration did slightly worse in ratings than last November’s CMA Awards (6.08 million viewers), it did significantly better than NBC’s “People’s Choice Country Awards” presented in partnership with the Grand Ole Opry, which saw pretty abysmal ratings of 3.3 million people in 2024, or roughly 2 million less than Opry 100 show.
It feels like there are a lot of lessons that could be learned from the success of the Opry 100 broadcast by country’s congested awards show landscape. Television viewers aren’t drawn as much by contemporary star power as they are with performers that feel familiar. As opposed to always trying to promote an artist’s current single, these awards should focus more on crafting “moments” that expose the emotion behind songs. The Opry 100 had many such moments.
And the most obvious takeaway is that viewers want to see country legends along with the current stars. Of course awards shows and specials will showcase the most popular stars of the day. But more and more, the most popular stars are from outside of the major label circuit, while some legendary artists are just as popular and revered as they ever were, if not more.
Much of the criticism you saw for the Opry 100 presentation was not that it felt old and stuffy. It’s that there could have been even more face time for country legends. But country music’s traditional fans should not look this gift horse in the mouth. They should be grateful for the more traditional-leaning presentation, and proclaim it’s what they want to see from the CMA and ACM Awards, just like the 2022 CMA Awards featured, and saw a ratings boost for it.
Many 20-somethings are too busy with Tik-Tok for appointment television or 3-hour specials, so you might as well focus on the country fans who are actually going to pay attention. Those fans tend to want to see a mix of young and old, and to experience performances that are fresh and nostalgic. That is what the Opry 100 celebration had, and that’s what country’s awards shows should have more of moving forward.
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March 22, 2025 @ 10:02 am
Look, I’m a staunch lover of old-time Country and Bluegrass, I listen to, and enjoy, Jason Boland, Sierra Ferrell, other newer artists. I’m not a stick-in-the-mud, as a rule. But I’d rather listen to carl and pearl butler than Jason Boland or Sierra Ferrell any day.
BUT, I’m a gatekeeper. I don’t believe keeping things exclusive to people who can appreciate them is a bad thing.
And I think the celebration needed to choose to be either a celebration of the past OR of the future, but it couldn’t be both.
A celebration of Opry past could have featured modern trad artists doing Uncle Dave Macon songs OR shown what little footage survives of his performing. They could have shown footage from old opry shows of Little Jimmy Dickens, Stringbean, Grandpa Jones, Faron Young, Lefty, Bill Monroe…
They could have let Ricky Skaggs headline the thing playing the songs from all of those artists. He and Marty Stuart know them all, from Bill down to Lester and Earl, from Hank to Patsy to Merles haggard travis and watson.
Does anybody really think Lainey Wilson knows the difference between Carl Perkins Carl Butler and Carl Smith? Why are we entrusting half the celebration of 100 years of history to a bunch of people who think traditional country music sounds like Alan Jackson?
If they wanted to celebrate 100 years, they sure made it sound like they wanted to celebrate the last 25.
Cool, I get it, most of those artists are dead, and you can argue how big the audience for Lester and Earl is (It’s bigger than most pundits think)
But don’t pretend to be celebrating the past and then make me listen to Lainey Wilson.
I bet I’ve forgotten more about Country music than Lainey Wilson will ever know.
And I totally get it. gotta focus on who’s hip and trendy, gotta market the future because those Flatt and Scruggs CD antholgies don’t make the opry a penny.
BUT it feels like blowing the proverbial smoke up my rectum to try and couch anything involving lainey wilson and Ashley McBride as ‘celebrating 100 years of country music’
Where were Riders in the sky?
Not a single reference to Roy Acuff, uncle Dave? the original opry stars?
I get it, it was unrealistic to think it would start out with Brad Paisley doing ‘this is country music’ while a montage of opry footage from black and white starts and runs through the years and then closes with everyone singing Great Speckled Bird.
But hank williams and the opry is a contentious subject. Bringing his guitar up there and handing it to lainey wilson is just tone deaf. Dierks Bentley, for all his radio schlock, probably knows more about Country Music than Lainey Wilson.
At least he knows about Cowboy Copas and Bill Carlisle
At the very least they should have organized it in chronological order so they were doing early country stuff, then 60s, then 90s, then current stuff.
Doing it all out of order is just incoherent incohesive etc.
I’m happy it was as good as it was, lord knows I’m still sore over the last ‘country music celebration’ when they disrespected Roy Clark, I’m still mad about that promised merle haggard tribute that was just ten seconds of his picture on the projector screen.
But why was keith urban there at all? who decided keith urban performs but not riders?
To most people who seriously know country music, people like me, and lots of other commenters, this was a very surface level presentation that lived up to the hype only a few times.
There’s only one hundred year celebration of the opry. why spend some of that time on the wrong people?
March 22, 2025 @ 11:12 am
“To most people who seriously know country music, people like me, and lots of other commenters, this was a very surface level presentation that lived up to the hype only a few times.”
That might be true for you. I strongly disagree with this assessment for the vast majority of the audience, including traditional country music fans, and including Saving Country Music commenters. This presentation was VERY well-received, and a lot of the criticisms I have seen have been “Where was George Strait?” “Where was Willie Nelson?” which have easy answers to them (they’re not Opry members and never really were).
I agree there could have been more emphasis on the past. But I think you wanted this to be a documentary on the Opry as opposed to a performance celebration by live and living members. Those are two completely separate things. And you seem to not give any recognition that they did talk about Bill Monroe before the bluegrass segment, and they did show segments of Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, and other past performers, and all of the past Opry greats in the “In Memoriam” segment.
We let out perfect expectation be the enemy of the good, and we can’t expect the Opry to cater their presentation to every sing individual viewer’s expectations. You have to be practical here, and this was a performance of living Opry members in a television special.
March 22, 2025 @ 11:21 am
So here is one of the multiple segments they did about the Opry history that aired during the special:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dili6g8Gzbc
Totally understand if you were hoping for three hours of this kind of archival programming, you would be disappointed. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to have live performances. I agree it would have been great to seem more historical stuff, and tributes to Roy Acuff, etc. But let’s not act like it wasn’t there at all.
March 22, 2025 @ 11:37 am
Yeah I mean I knew they weren’t going to mention Carl butler, stringbean, George Morgan et Al.
But at the same time I grew up watching the opry tv reruns on rfd. I watched (and taped) porter wagoner and Wilburn bros reruns.
A 100 year opry presentation is something that I would (and do) take super seriously.
I guess it felt like the people producing it didn’t take it as seriously as maybe I think they should have. I was hoping most of the performances would be by people who knew what it meant and gave it the appropriate gravitas and some of those moments felt… too casual.
Overall I’m trying not to complain I know I should have tempered expectations.
But it also feels like I care about country music more than some of the people making it
March 22, 2025 @ 11:50 am
“it also feels like I care about country music more than some of the people making it”
Well, of course you do. The people making it were making a TV show they hoped people would watch.
March 23, 2025 @ 6:38 am
Fuzzy, while I applaud your effort to promote the golden age of Country music, in fact agree on the importance of the history ; i agree with Kyle also. NETWORK tv. Different animal entirely. If we were talking RFD TV, then by all means, go all out on the 50s/60s historical songs and so on.
But consider how insane a 3 hour show on network TV is in this day and age, with short attention spans and modern culture, ratings etc. They did a balancing act, to make something with appeal to an average Country fan. Most average Country fans today, haven’t a clue who The Wilburn Brothers are, and couldn’t tell you the difference between them, The Louvin Brothers, The Willis Brothers and The Statler Brothers.
Most listening to Country today are doing good to name half the greats of the 90s. Thats just where we are in time. Sure, you and I and Trigger care, and maybe a few hundred others out there, but the masses, ehhh.. not so much. It was a pretty epic show, all things considered.
March 23, 2025 @ 7:39 pm
@Kevin–Thanks for injecting a note of common sense. It was a network TV entertainment program. Not a video made to be viewed in a mini-theater/screening room by vistiors to the H-o-F.
March 24, 2025 @ 10:10 am
Where was Eddy Arnold and Cattle Call ?
Jason Allen? Woe… We allowed country bubblegum to intertwine with the genre. Lainey Wilson is everywhere and She is ok but so are Many others to consider… Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager, Stoney LaRue, Bo Phillips, The Reed Brothers….
March 22, 2025 @ 11:01 am
It also would have been nice to close it out singing “Wabash Cannonball” or “Will the Circle be Unbroken”. Because the circle has been unbroken in my opinion.
March 22, 2025 @ 11:22 am
So they did actually finish the show with “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” It just got cut off due to time constraints. If you stream it on Peacock, you can watch the entirety of that performance.
March 22, 2025 @ 11:33 am
I didn’t know that either. That’s good to know.
March 22, 2025 @ 12:30 pm
I always feel like what actually gets new fans into country music isn’t pop country or crossover stuff but the real thing taken seriously and done well. In large part the reason many people aren’t country fans is because the only country music they encounter casually is in fact really bad. Why would anyone be a country fan if your only references are Sam hunt (or Johnny cash which to the casual person is what country may have once been but is no longer).
I love country music and think more people would if they got to encounter it like this. Taken seriously and done well.
March 22, 2025 @ 12:52 pm
Just had a chance to go back and watch the show today, and I really couldn’t have asked for a whole lot more out of it. Regarding the ending, I was watching the recording on Peacock and my stream did cut off right as they were starting the first line of Will The Circle Be Unbroken instead of showing the full performance.
I would never be confused with being a Post Malone fan, but I do have to give him credit for stepping in for Jelly Roll and singing Jackson on what sounds like little to no notice. Many may be surprised that he knows the song at all, but to know it well enough to give a solid performance on that notice is commendable.
I saw some discussion in the recap article about whether Tony Jackson should have sang Kiss An Angel Good Morning, but I really wish he could have done his version of The Grand Tour over Luke Combs. Nothing against Luke, but Tony absolutely kills it when he sings The Grand Tour.
One question I did have is whether the music was played live or whether any of it was backing tracks. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there were a couple of times where the music felt “too good to be live”.
March 22, 2025 @ 2:33 pm
Huh. I don’t have Peacock, but the Opry was actively promoting for people to go stream it so they could see “Where The Circle.” The Network broadcast cut off right after it started as well.
I do believe that all the music was live. That’s just the strength of the Opry house band for you. Another reason I think that is because in a couple of instances, the timing got off, most notably Ketch Secor during “Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
March 22, 2025 @ 5:17 pm
“ That’s just the strength of the Opry house band for you”
They are so talented. It’s amazing how they play excellent backing for the variety of artists who come through there.
March 23, 2025 @ 8:10 am
Hey thank you for this comment, as I said in my post I only watched this to see Barbara mandrell and I watched it on NBC not peacock. I know Miss mandrell does not and will not sing anymore so she’s probably not in this gospel segment but I will go to peacock and go to the end of it so I can see that. I had no idea that ending would be on there until someone said that NBC cut the show short because it ran over so that gospel segment at the end was not on network TV. Thank you again I appreciate this information
March 22, 2025 @ 3:38 pm
Good call on Tony Jackson singing The Grand Tour, Joe. It also would work if Luke Combs sang Kiss An Angel Good Morning because he sang it on one of the Charley Pride tribute shows after he passed away and I thought he did a nice job.
March 22, 2025 @ 12:54 pm
“Television viewers aren’t drawn as much by contemporary star power as they are with performers that feel familiar.”
And/or contemporary performers who don’t make us want to switch off (or not tune in, in the first place).
March 22, 2025 @ 2:11 pm
I think it is interesting how spiritual and/or religious it was. You just don’t see things like that on network tv
March 22, 2025 @ 2:34 pm
Yes, years ago they wouldn’t allow a Gospel segment like that in primetime.
March 22, 2025 @ 3:06 pm
Back in the day when WSM’s 50,000 watt AM signal would actually reach South Florida on winter nights, I never failed to tune in. Nowadays, of course, 650AM’s signal is nonexistent down here, thanks to Spanish-Language interference bleeding in from who-knows-where. However, it is still possible to hear the various Opry shows on different nights if you subscribe to SiriusXM satellite radio, which I do. One thing I’ve noticed lately is that the Grand Ole Opry has turned into “The Grand Ole Lecture,” These “stars” I’ve never heard of just keep talking and talking, then maybe after 20 minutes of this idle chatter, finally get around to singing a song! Laura Ingrahm once wrote a book in response to the Dixie Chicks and other entertainer’s political ramblings, titled “Shut Up And Sing!”
I’ve given up on the Opry and all the various award shows.
March 22, 2025 @ 4:26 pm
Focused on legends? Yes my great grandparents told me of the legendary tale of mid career crossover Barbara Mandrell and Crystal Gayle’s great pop song and Charlie Daniel’s fiddle playing.
Oh and the Hank of all Hanks…please.
March 22, 2025 @ 4:38 pm
Of course the show fell from the sky across the Pacific on its way to Australia therefore didn’t make it. May I put in a comment (different subject sorry) never being an AC/DC fan I’m really blown away with Cody Jinks cover of “It’s A Long Way To The Top”. Brilliant Cody. Pete.
March 22, 2025 @ 6:23 pm
Hello from Kansas City Missouri. I watched this show for only one reason and that was Barbara mandrell. I thought it was very haunting seeing her sit on that stage watching her big signature song being performed by one of the young artists of today. Literally I had goosebumps. I’ve never seen any type of a musical program do something like that with the artist just sitting on the stage like that. Miss mandrell was very moved and you can tell she felt totally at home. When the cameras were on her you would watch her feet tapping to the music, you could see the pleasure on her face and just total sheer relaxation. It was just moving. One of these days I wish one of these big shows would let a fan come on instead of another celebrity and talk about their love and admiration for their hero and let the fan sing to them live. Personally I get so tired of seeing other celebrities sing to each other on these types of shows it’s the fans that should be showing their respect and admiration for what that individual meant to them. That’s one of the core values of country music we’re all just a big family. I’ve never seen that before. Country music means different things to all of us I guess. Barbara mandrell was the Taylor Swift of the 70s and ’80s. I was 10 years old in 1980, my generation idolized her and she was everywhere. When she retired in 1997 and gave us one final concert for television I was in that audience at the Grand Ole Opry seven rows from the stage. That moment was hard to see her one last time but when she meant she was going to retire she sure did. For those of us that grew up in the ’70s and ’80s everything was always Barbara mandrell and seeing her the other night sitting there on that bar stool was just one of the most iconic moments that I don’t think her millions of fans will ever forget. Just mesmerizing. Wow.
March 22, 2025 @ 10:24 pm
Hi! I was also 10 years old in 1980 and totally agree with everything you said! Especially about having fans be the ones to talk about and or sing to their favorite artists. That would be so amazing!
March 22, 2025 @ 7:06 pm
Sure wish someone could tell me who was playing in the Opry band that night
March 22, 2025 @ 8:13 pm
My down fall of the whole program that Loretta Lynn name was never mentioned
March 22, 2025 @ 8:24 pm
Loretta Lynn had an entire segment dedicated to her with Reba McEntire singing “You Ain’t Woman Enough.” It was one of the very first segments so you might have missed it, but it was there.
March 23, 2025 @ 2:29 pm
It was the very first segment that kicked off the show. Here is Loretta’s granddaughter talking about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLvtmOSLi0
March 24, 2025 @ 8:39 am
You must have missed the beginning. Reba did a tribute to open the show. It’s on YouTube
March 22, 2025 @ 8:34 pm
So I haven’t got a chance to watch it yet because, with two young kids it takes me forever to catch up on anything, but did anyone do a Marty Robbins song? I mean, I feel like he was a member for a while, and notoriously would play the last show because he always wanted to race. That’s a pretty good anecdote I feel like nowadays, but I suppose if no one felt up to his songs…
March 23, 2025 @ 6:15 am
My only real wish was that Chris Janson had dueted with Travis Tritt. The grit and energy of that song matches what he brings and, as much as I appreciate Post Malone, he just doesn’t have the attitude to give it its due.
March 24, 2025 @ 5:41 am
In Post’s defense, Travis Tritt didn’t seem to have the grit and energy to perform that song anymore either.
March 23, 2025 @ 11:25 am
It was a great show with a lot of history. I know they had to limit the number f stars, but I would have liked to have seen Martina McBride, Lorrie Morgan and Wynonna.
March 24, 2025 @ 8:09 am
Barbara Mandrell and Glenn Campbell “Bonaparte’s Retreat” from 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSDK_XGjGR
March 24, 2025 @ 8:13 am
oopsie THIS VIDEO IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE (Whah? I just played it 2 minutes ago. You can probably find it searching YouTube with those keywords ^^^^)
March 24, 2025 @ 1:47 pm
I had the honor of talking to Nancy Jones the day after the 100th Opry celebration and she had this to say…..
https://youtu.be/HWj2Dy9VuKg?si=WKCD4SARceoBg7Ju
March 24, 2025 @ 1:53 pm
This was a great show and a worthy tribute to the history of the Opry which does make country music so special. Some wonderful performances. Plenty of great music. So good that it had so many watching it. It deserved it.