43rd Annual CMA Awards

General Information

When/Where?

The 43rd Annual Country Music Awards will be held Wednesday November 11, 2009. They are held at The Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Show time is 8pm Eastern/ 7pm Central. Nashville, Tennessee is in the Central Time Zone.

Is the show televised?

Absolutely! The CMA Awards will air live on the ABC Network... 8pm EST, 7CST. Check your local listings for verification and channel location. Country Music Television also provides pre-show activites prior to the show. More details on that will be available when announced.

Can I attend the show?

Yes. Tickets are on-sale for the show. Click Here

How are the winners decided?

The winners in each category are voted on by the membership of The Country Music Association. As the first trade organization ever to promote a type of music, CMA's membership has grown to more than 6,000 music industry professionals and companies from 43 countries around the world. As a professional trade association, CMA membership is available to those working in the Country Music industry. Over 20 types of membership are offered for every category of industry professional, from behind-the-scenes studio engineers, to front-of-the-camera artists.

There three rounds of voting. First, a write-in ballot is provided to members. Second, the top write-in canidates are voted on. The top 5 in that vote become the official nominees that are announced. The third round of voting is on the nominees, in which the highest amount of votes for that song/artist will be announced as the winner live on the show. Winners are not announced prior to the live show.

Radio/Broadcast awards are voted on specifically by members of the CMA that are involved in the radio industry. The general award categories are voted on by all members.

Are all awards announced live on the show?

All general award winners are announced during the live show. Broadcast award winners are announced prior to the airing of the show, but are recognized during the show.