Who knows, perhaps one of the issues preventing the show from realizing its full potential before was in its network, and it may perform better under CMT than it did with ABC. That will become clear in a couple of months, but it does look like some fans are already hopeful that the change of network will have a positive effect on the show as a whole.
The new season is scheduled for January 5, and it will open up with a special longer episode that will likely reestablish some things about the plot, setting, and characters.
Of all the things that have been announced for season 5, the development fans seem most interested in right now are the new cast additions. It will indeed be interesting to see how the new actors blend in with the current cast, and if they will work well with the show as a whole. That’s always a major concern with changes like this.
A lot has changed behind the scenes of “Nashville” though, so it’s probably not a wise idea to compare the show’s new face to what fans remember from the previous seasons. Productions that move over to a new network tend to face some significant changes in their structure and style, but it’s not rare that the new appearance of the show is even more attractive to its original fans, and also manages to draw new people in.