‘Nashville’s Big Bash’ live broadcast interrupted by technical problems

CBS suffered a technical glitch that took the live broadcast of “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash” off the air for about 12 minutes on Wednesday night.

In the meantime, the network ran an episode of “Matlock,” an abrupt change that greatly confused viewers who had tuned in to watch a selection of country superstars perform from Nashville and other locations in the run-up to midnight. The interruption came about 50 minutes into the five-and-a-half-hour special.

The circumstances behind the technical problems were not entirely clear.

At about 8:50 PM PT, singer-actor Lainey Wilson was in the middle of a tune when it was suddenly interrupted. Soon after, a voice reported “technical difficulties,” and then CBS cut to a series of commercials. Those were followed by an episode of “Matlock” that seemed to be starting. Finally, after about 12 and a half minutes, host Bert Kreischer and country singer Hardy came back in and apologized for the interruption. Singer Gretchen Wilson then took the stage.

The event will be held at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in Nashville. The 2025 broadcast featured performances from country notables such as Jason Aldean, Bailey Zimmerman, CeCe Winans and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, Riley Green, Marcus King, Megan Moroney, Zach Top, Keith Urban and Stephen Wilson Jr.

“Nashville’s Big Bash” is executive produced by Robert Deaton and Mary Hilliard Harrington in association with Music City Inc., the founding member of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.

(Image: Lainey Wilson performing at the Big Bash in Nashville event broadcast live on CBS)