ABC is celebrating Country Music’s Biggest Night™ with a special programming lineup in the days leading into “The 55th Annual CMA Awards,” airing live Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC. Offering Country Music fans a backstage pass to up-close-and-personal interviews with their favorite stars, as well as never-before-seen access into the lives of this year’s host and nominees, ABC has it all.
“ON THE RED CARPET: COUNTDOWN TO THE CMA AWARDS” – SATURDAY, NOV. 6 AND SUNDAY, NOV. 7 (check local listings)
On Saturday, Nov. 6 and Sunday, Nov. 7, ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles’s entertainment reporter George Pennacchio hosts “On The Red Carpet: Countdown to the CMA Awards,” a 30-minute special from Nashville featuring interviews with CMA Awards host Luke Bryan and conversations with many of this year’s nominees. In addition, Country Music stars Ryan Hurd, Michael Ray and Lainey Wilson bring cameras along as they visit some of their favorite local hot spots in Nashville, Tennessee.
“BACKSTAGE PASS: COUNTDOWN TO THE CMA AWARDS” – MONDAY, NOV. 8 (10:00-11:00 PM/ET)
On Monday, Nov. 8, ABC News’ annual awards special shares unprecedented access to some of today’s hottest Country Music stars where for seven days and 168 hours, across 24 cities, cameras rolled capturing one week in the life of Country Music while documenting artists’ lives. Featured in the special are CMA Awards host Bryan, Jimmie Allen, Lauren Alaina, Lady A, Carly Pearce and Keith Urban as they return to the road, reconnecting with fans while navigating through the constant change 2021 continues to bring.
“Backstage Pass: Countdown to the CMA Awards” is produced by ABC News. Janice Johnston is the executive producer, and Monica Escobedo and Emily Whipp are senior producers.
ABC NEWS LIVE AND “ON THE RED CARPET” – WEDNESDAY, NOV. 10 (6:30-8:00 PM/ET – streaming/check local listings)
On Wednesday, Nov. 10, ABC News Live and “On The Red Carpet” come together for a first-ever simulcast event featuring live pre-show coverage of this year’s CMA Awards from inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Streaming on ABC News Live, beginning at 6:30 PM/ET, “Good Morning America”’s Lara Spencer, CMA Awards nominee Jimmie Allen and ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles’ George Pennacchio report from the red carpet giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s awards – just moments before showtime – as well as interviews with many of this year’s CMA Awards nominees and hottest stars. The first hour of coverage will stream on ABC News Live and ABC Owned Television Stations’ connected TV apps, followed by a simulcast from 7:30-8:00 PM/ET of “On The Red Carpet,” streaming on ABC News Live and airing across linear on ABC Owned Television Stations in New York (WABC), Los Angeles (KABC), Chicago (WLS), Philadelphia (WPVI), San Francisco (KGO), Houston (KTRK), Fresno (KFSN), Raleigh-Durham (WTVD), and ABC affiliates (check local listings).
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About ABC News Live
ABC News Live is ABC News’ 24/7 streaming news channel that presents coverage of live events, breaking news, in-depth reporting, context and analysis from around the world. It features original programs such as evening newscast “ABC News Live Prime” with Linsey Davis, “ABC News Live Update” with Diane Macedo and issues-oriented political program “Your Voice Your Vote: The Breakdown” with Macedo and Terry Moran. It has streamed original documentaries including “Guardians of the Amazon” and “Homegrown Hate” and original specials such as “Countdown to the CMA Awards, Live!,” “America’s Future: The Power of the Latino Vote,” “Countdown to the Emmys,” “Launch America” and “PRIDE on ABC News Live.”
ABC News Live is available to more than 370 million streamers with its distribution on Hulu, The Roku Channel, YouTube TV, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon’s news app on Fire tablets and Fire TV devices, Xumo, Sling TV, fuboTV, Haystack News, Facebook, Twitter, ABCNews.com, the ABC News and ABC mobile apps, and standalone ABC News Live apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Roku and Apple TV.
About ABC Owned Television Stations
Disney Media Entertainment & Distribution's eight owned ABC stations are multiplatform leaders in local news and information. Collectively No. 1 across all U.S. television, reaching 23% of households and more than 34 million Total Viewers and 62 million digital visitors a month, the eight stations are comprised of WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The stations also deliver locally sourced storytelling to more than 17 million viewers across America through its multiplatform lifestyle network, Localish. In 2020, the stations received five Broadcast & Cable awards, including in the 2020 Best in Local TV Awards category as Station Group of the Year for its innovative and next-generation news reporting, and in the major market category for 2020: Best News Coverage, Best Digital Multiplatform or Website, Best Investigative Reporting Station Group and Best Public Affairs Programming, illustrating the group's strength and ever-increasing growth and reach in the multiplatform space.
About the CMA Awards
The first “CMA Awards Banquet and Show” was held in 1967. The following year, the CMA Awards was broadcast for the first time – making it the longest running, annual music awards program on network television. The CMA Awards have aired on ABC since 2006. ABC is the network home of the CMA Awards and CMA’s other two television properties, “CMA Fest” and “CMA Country Christmas.”