Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum Announce Final Nominees on ABC's "Good Morning America" For "The 46th Annual CMA Awards" Live From New York City on Wednesday, Sept. 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- "Country Music's Biggest Morning" will be held on the world's biggest stage, when Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum announce the final nominees for "The 46^th Annual CMA Awards" on Wednesday, Sept. 5 from "Good Morning America" and the Hard Rock Cafe located in Times Square in New York City.

Aldean and Lady Antebellum will announce the final nominees in five CMA Awards categories live from the "Good Morning America" studios on ABC. The announcement will air in the 8:30 AM/ET half-hour segment of the morning news program. Following the announcement, at 9:15 AM/ET, Aldean and Lady Antebellum will head over to the Hard Rock Cafe to announce the finalists in the remaining seven categories. The last time all of the CMA Awards nominees were announced in New York City was 2005.

"The CMA Awards are 'Country Music's Biggest Night™,' and it's something that all of us look forward to all year. From the day the nominations are announced up until the show, there's a lot of build-up and anticipation for the Awards and also for the performances," explained Aldean. "I feel honored to be able to help make the nominations announcement on 'Good Morning America,' and hopefully I'll get to read some of my friends' names that morning."

"I'll never forget our first CMA nomination and what that felt like," added Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley. "The CMAs have been really good to us the last few years, and it's still unbelievable to me when I see our name on a list of nominees. That night is always such a blast because it's your chance to catch up with everyone and celebrate Country Music and all the hard work put in throughout the year."

In Nashville, members of CMA and the media will be invited to a breakfast (8:00 AM/CT) at CMA to learn the nominees with the rest of the country via live stream at CMAawards.com.

Lee Brice will be on hand in Nashville to announce the finalists for the 2012 CMA Broadcast Award Personality and Radio Station of the Year in four categories (small, medium, large, and major markets), as well as the finalists for the CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year at 8:15 AM/CT. CMA's radio partner, Premiere Networks, will carry the Awards and Broadcast Award nominations to Country Radio.

"This is the Year of Country Radio and we are very excited to include our membership in the announcement of the nominees as we recognize the outstanding achievements of these radio professionals and stations," said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer.

The current CMA Album of the Year, Aldean's double-Platinum fourth record My Kinda Party was the top-selling Country album of 2011 and the No. five top-seller in all of music, spawning five consecutive No. 1 hits. With more than six million records sold and nine career No. 1 singles, Aldean is set to release his highly anticipated fifth studio album Night Train on Oct. 16, with the first single "Take A Little Ride" already posting record sales and radio airplay numbers. The Georgia native's 2012 MY KINDA PARTY TOUR, presented by State Farm®, has sold out every show so far this year, many in a matter of minutes, with his first stadium show in August selling out more than two months in advance.

The six-time, CMA Award-winning and reigning Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum's Platinum third disc Own The Night debuted at the No. 1 position on Billboard's Top 200 and has spawned two No. 1 hits, "We Owned The Night" and "Just A Kiss," tallying six career chart-topping hits. The album also serves as inspiration for their current headlining OWN THE NIGHT 2012 WORLD TOUR, which recently marked an attendance milestone of more than one million fans after completing legs in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The trio will wrap their World Tour in October with already sold out shows in Australia.

Aldean received his first of seven CMA Award nominations in 2007 for the Horizon Award (now known as New Artist of the Year). In 2011, he was nominated for five CMA Awards, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, and Single of the Year ("Don't You Wanna Stay"). He picked up two trophies for Musical Event of the Year for "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson and Album of the Year for My Kinda Party.

Lady Antebellum has won six CMA Awards starting with New Artist of the Year in 2008; Single of the Year ("I Run to You") in 2009 and again for "Need You Now" in 2010; and Vocal Group of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

"We are pleased to have these dynamic artists bring these important and highly anticipated announcements to the media capital of the world, and still be able to share the excitement live with our constituents in Nashville," Moore said.

Brice recently topped the charts with his first Platinum-selling No. 1 hit, "A Woman Like You," from his new Curb Records' album, Hard 2 Love. Brice also scored back-to-back BillboardAwards in 2010 and 2011 for the most played Country Song of the Year.

"It's been a great year for me at Country radio," commented Brice. "I'm proud to be able to honor those stations that have done so much for me this year by announcing the finalists for the CMA Broadcast Awards live from Nashville."

The audio announcement of the CMA Awards nominees will be available via satellite and FTP from CMA's radio partner Premiere Networks. CMA Broadcast Awards finalist announcements will also be available via FTP. Premiere has provided outstanding radio coverage of the CMA Awards nominations since 1997. Any Country radio station interested in receiving the radio package, including the nominations feed, may contact Premiere Affiliate Relations at (818) 377-5300.

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the 11,000 industry professional members of CMA, which was formed in 1958 as the first trade organization to promote an individual genre of music. The first "CMA Awards Banquet and Show" was held in 1967. The following year, the CMA Awards was broadcast on NBC television for the first time – making it the longest-running annual music awards program on network television. The show aired on NBC through 1971 and on the CBS Television Network from 1972 through 2005 before moving to ABC in 2006. ABC will be the network home of the CMA Awards through 2021.

The third and final ballot will be emailed to CMA members Oct. 4. Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot ends at 5:00 PM/CT, Oct. 22.

The 2011 CMA Awards was the No. 1 entertainment show for the week among the key advertising Adults 18-49 sales demographic. The special beat its nearest competition by 5.6 million viewers and by 26 percent in Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen.

Held during November Sweeps (Nov. 9), "The 45^th Annual CMA Awards" on ABC dominated the night winning all six of its half-hours in total viewers and Adults 18-49. With a primetime sweep, ABC finished No. 1 on Wednesday in Viewers across all key demos including Adult, Men, and Women (18-34/18-49/25-54), as well as finishing as the top broadcaster with Teens (12-17).

In Total Viewers (16.4 million; 17.49 Live+7) and Adults 18-49 (4.8/13; 5.2/14 Live+7) it was ABC's strongest Wednesday in two years with an estimated 35 million viewers watching at least some portion of the three-hour live gala.  

"The 46^th Annual CMA Awards" is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer, Paul Miller is the Director, and David Wild is the writer. 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.

"Good Morning America" is a two-hour, live program anchored by Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos. Josh Elliott is the news anchor, Lara Spencer is lifestyle anchor, and Sam Champion is the weather anchor. The morning news program airs Monday-Friday (7:00-9:00 AM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Chevrolet™ is the Official Ride of Country Music. American Airlines is the Official Airline of the CMA Awards. 

SOURCE Country Music Association

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