[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".

[citation needed] Each episode begins with a preview of the artist as read by executive producer Terry Lickona, which leads into an opening credit sequence.

Beginning in season 46, Lickona appeared on camera to introduce that night's performance, as well as the interview segments.

The first Songwriters Special included performances by Willie Nelson, Floyd Tillman, Hank Cochran, Red Lane, Whitey Shafer, and Sonny Throckmorton.

[6] The deliberate lack of production slickness plus attention to audio detail pleased even the notoriously TV-shy Nelson.

Lead Marketer Ken Waggoner, and Austin City Limits creator Bill Arhos pitched the pilot to PBS as part of its 1975 pledge drive.

The show's success as a fundraiser was enough for Arhos to get Austin City Limits green-lighted as a series.

On June 21, 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, announced that nearly 40 years of Austin City Limits footage would be digitally archived "in perpetuity" at the Museum's new Library and Archives; recordings from more than 800 live performances will be made available to the public.

MTV Live (formerly Palladia HD) acquired rerun rights to the series in 2016 under the moniker Best of Austin City Limits.

When Austin City Limits aired on CMT, episodes ran for 42 minutes to make room for commercials, and began with an introduction by Charlie Robison and Tara McNamara.

A plaque near the entrance to Communications Building B commemorating the occasion proclaims Austin City Limits as the "longest running music show in the history of American television".

[27] For the first 36 seasons Austin City Limits was taped in Studio 6A with sets designed by Augie Kymmel and Robert Sertner.

From 1977 to 2004 (seasons 2–29), Austin City Limits used Gary P. Nunn's "London Homesick Blues" as the show's theme song.

[28] For season 40, "Travis County Line" by Austin native Gary Clark Jr. became the theme.