'Nashville' Opens Final Season With Strong Ratings

Nashville's swan song is off to a strong start.

The country music-centered soap's sixth and final season premiere drew 1.6M total viewers and a .8 rating in the demo, according to Deadline. The show was also the most social entertainment cable series for last Thursday night.

Currently airing its second season on CMT, which picked up the show after ABC suddenly cancelled it at the end of its fourth season, the show follows country music stars Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), Deacon Claiborne (Charles Esten) and their families as they pursue their dreams in country music. The show's biggest star, Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton), was killed off the show in season 5.

Jonathan Jackson, Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio and Lennon Stella also star.

Produced by Lionsgate and Opry Entertainment, the series is executive produced by Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, Steve Buchanan and Callie Khouri.

Take a sneak peek of Thursday's brand new episode below. Nashville airs on CMT at 8 p.m. ET.