“THE 42nd ANNUAL CMA AWARDS” WILL AIR LIVE NOVEMBER 12 ON ABC

NASHVILLE -- The Country Music Association and ABC Television Network announced during TCA that “The 42nd Annual CMA Awards” will air live on Wednesday, Nov. 12 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. The industry’s elite and biggest stars will gather on “Country Music’s Biggest Night™” to recognize and celebrate the best and brightest performers, songwriters, record producers and music video directors.

The 2007 CMA Awards, held in Nashville during the November Sweep (11/7/07), ranked behind only the Academy Awards and Grammy Awards during the 2007-2008 season for award shows among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. With “The 41st Annual CMA Awards,” ABC won Wednesday evening in both Total Viewers (16.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.4/1 4).

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the 6,000 industry professional members of the Country Music Association. The organization, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2008, was the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958. A total of 12 CMA Awards in the following categories are presented: Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Vocal Duo of the Year, Musical Event of the Year, Musician of the Year, Music Video of the Year and New Artist of the Year (formerly known as the Horizon Award).

“The 42nd Annual CMA Awards” is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Producer. Paul Miller is the Director. The special will be shot in high definition and broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

Review the 2007 CMA Awards online at www.CMAawards.com.

The "Country Music Awards" don’t exist, and here’s why...

Sure, there are accolades doled out within the Country Music industry, and any reference to such honors is commonly referred to as the "Country Music Awards." However common, the reference is incorrect. Allow me to distinguish the honors a Country Music industry performer or professional may earn...

There are three awards shows dedicated to Country Music. Each airs on different networks at different times of the year, and each have distinct looks, purposes and ratings results...

First are the "CMA AWARDS," also appropriately called the "Country Music Association Awards." Thus, "CMA" does NOT stand for "Country Music Awards" (why would a show be dubbed the "Country Music Awards Awards?"), rather it is an acronym for the industry's foremost trade organization - the Country Music Association, based in Nashville. The CMA Awards air during November sweeps each year on ABC. After premiering on the ABC Television Network, the CMA Awards typically re-air during the holidays on CMT: Country Music Television.

The CMA Awards trophy is a crystal bullet-shaped trophy with a gold medallion bearing the Country Music Association organizational logo. The CMA Awards, which originate annually from Nashville, are considered the pinnacle of achievement in Country Music - the granddaddy of them all.

Second are the "ACM AWARDS," also referred to as the "Academy of Country Music Awards." This show airs on CBS during the May sweeps period and has been hosted for a number of years by Reba McEntire. The ACM Awards, staged by the LA-based Academy of Country Music, originate from Las Vegas's MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The ACM trophy is a pewter cowboy hat. Re-airs of the ACM Awards happen on Country-themed network GAC: Great American Country. Much as the American Music Awards follow the Grammys in prestige, so too do the ACM Awards follow the CMA Awards.

Finally, Country network CMT offers its version of the MTV Video Music Awards with the CMT Music Awards (formerly the CMT Flameworthy Awards). This show also originates from Nashville and airs exclusively on CMT. The CMT Music Award trophy is a large belt buckle. This show is very much a party with a loose format. In 2008 Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus co-hosted the show. Jeff Foxworthy had hosted for a couple years prior.

There you have it: 3 distinct shows and not one of them called the "Country Music Awards." In summary:

CMA Awards = Crystal Bullet-shaped trophy / November, ABC / the Oscars of Country
ACM Awards = Pewter Cowboy Hat-shaped trophy / May, CBS / think AMAs
CMT Music Awards = Belt Buckle-shaped trophy / April, CMT / Country's version of the VMAs

This will be just great for those new Wednesday shows. They'll air 5 weeks, break for this, then have another ep, then have Thanksgiving Wednesday which ABC will probably foolishly air a new ep on again. Brilliant planning if there ever was some.

Yes, considering the CMA Awards outperform the network's traditional Wednesday lineup, it is indeed very smart planning on ABC's part.

That may be true but it was one of several preemptions done by ABC in the fall last year. Those preemptions and then the decision to air the shows on low rated nights like Thanksgiving Eve only hurt them. I will remind you too that ABC's lineup won the night in the all important demo most weeks.

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Originally posted by Chapped Man:
Yes, considering the CMA Awards outperform the network's traditional Wednesday lineup, it is indeed very smart planning on ABC's part.

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Originally posted by mushu_jj:
This will be just great for those new Wednesday shows. They'll air 5 weeks, break for this, then have another ep, then have Thanksgiving Wednesday which ABC will probably foolishly air a new ep on again. Brilliant planning if there ever was some.

Where would you suggest ABC air this? Outside of the sweeps period? Monday and Tuesday are out due to DWTS. Sunday is already being pre-empted once by the American Music Awards and obviously, they do not want to pre-empt the Thursday lineup. That just leaves Friday, Saturday, or the scheduled Wednesday.

The programming of Thanksgiving eve is a completely different topic. ABC should air the Wonderful World of Disney on that night and Polar Express on Thanksgiving.

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Originally posted by Zedman2:

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
This will be just great for those new Wednesday shows. They'll air 5 weeks, break for this, then have another ep, then have Thanksgiving Wednesday which ABC will probably foolishly air a new ep on again. Brilliant planning if there ever was some.

Where would you suggest ABC air this? Outside of the sweeps period? Monday and Tuesday are out due to DWTS. Sunday is already being pre-empted once by the American Music Awards and obviously, they do not want to pre-empt the Thursday lineup. That just leaves Friday, Saturday, or the scheduled Wednesday.

The programming of Thanksgiving eve is a completely different topic. ABC should air the Wonderful World of Disney on that night and Polar Express on Thanksgiving.

They could air it on Tuesday and simply preempt one of the shows on Wednesday for Dancing results and honestly, they could just air Dancing results at the beginning of the next telecast. Its not like the results do all that well in the demo (at least not any better than the CMA Awards tend to do).