Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits
Created by
  • Bill Arhos
  • Paul Bosner
  • Bruce Scafe
Directed by
  • Bruce Scafe (1976–1977)
  • Charles Vaughn (1978)
  • Clark Santee (1979)
  • Allan Muir (1980–1982)
  • Gary Menotti (1983–present)
Narrated byTerry Lickona (1979–present)
Theme music composerAlan Tew (1980–1982)
John Mills (1982–1998; seasons 7–23)
Gary P. Nunn (1977–2004; seasons 2–29)
Fats Waller (1977–1981; seasons 2–6)
Kevin Roth (1992–1996; seasons 17–21)
Tequila Mockingbird (2000–2004; seasons 25–29)
Charlie Sexton (2004–2007; seasons 30–32)
Explosions in the Sky (2011–2014; seasons 37–39)
Gary Clark Jr. (2014–2015; season 40)
White Denim (2015–2017; seasons 41–42)
The Black Angels (2017–2019; seasons 43–44)
Spoon (2019–2020; season 45, 2021–2022; season 47)
Black Pumas (2020–2021)
St. Vincent (2022–2024; seasons 48–49)
Adrian Quesada (2024–2025)
Opening theme"London Homesick Blues" (1977–2004)
"Louisiana Fairy Tale" (1977–1981)
"Shining Time Station" (1992–1996)
"An Introduction" (2011–2014)
"Travis County Line" (2014–2015)
"New Shake" (2015–2017)
"History of Women" (2017–2019)
"Hot Thoughts" (2019–2020, 2021–2022)
"Colors" (2020–2021)
"Cruel" (2022–2024)
"An Introduction" (2024–2025)
Ending theme"The Big One" (1980–1982)
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons50
No. of episodes(over) 1,000
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companyAustin PBS
Original release
NetworkPBS
ReleaseJanuary 3, 1976 (1976-01-03) –
present
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Austin City Limits is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World",[1] and is the only television show to receive the National Medal of Arts, which it was awarded in 2003.[2] It also won a rare institutional Peabody Award in 2011 "for its more than three decades of presenting and preserving eclectic American musical genres".[3] Austin City Limits is produced by Austin PBS under the Capital of Texas Public Telecommunications Council. The show was created in 1974 by Bill Arhos, Bruce Scafe, and Paul Bosner.

Beginning in Season 15 (1990), Austin City Limits began broadcasting in Dolby Surround, and continued until season 24 (1999). From 1976 to 2004 (seasons 1–29), the show was broadcast in NTSC.[citation needed] From 2004 to 2007 (seasons 30–32), the show was broadcast in HDTV 720p. Beginning in season 33 (2007–2008), the show began broadcasting in widescreen 1080i.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Austin, TX Official City Website". Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Austin City Limits". www.arts.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  3. ^ 72nd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2012