News

ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC & GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY PARTNER TO LET THE FANS DECIDE TOP NEW ARTIST NOMINEES

Encino, CA (January 3, 2011) – The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country (GAC) announced today that for the third year, the newcomer categories for the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards — Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group —will be opened up to interactive fan voting through VoteACM.com and GACtv.com/ACM.  The Academy is also announcing that the Top New Vocal Duo or Group category will take the place of the Top New Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Group categories.

The nominees for the newcomer categories are:

Top New Solo vocalist

• Eric Church
• Easton Corbin
• Randy Houser

Top New vocal duo OR GROUP

• The Band Perry
• the JaneDear girls
• Steel Magnolia

Professional members of the Academy of Country Music select the final nominees in the Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Vocal or Group categories. Professional member votes will be combined with fan votes to obtain the winners of the newcomer categories of the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.

Fan voting for these categories will begin at VoteACM.com and GACtv.com/ACM on Thursday, January 27 at 9:00 AM PST and will close on Thursday, February 24 at 9AM PST. The winner in each category will be announced in March and will move on to compete for Top New Artist.  Voting for the Top New Artist category will begin at VoteACM.com and GACtv.com/ACM on Friday, March 11 at 12:00 NOON PST and will close on April 3, with the winner being announced LIVE during the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast on the CBS Television Network.  

As part of this partnership, GAC will air several stand-alone specials, including a show featuring all the nominees from each of the two categories, as well as a show featuring the winners who will compete for overall Top New Artist.

“Like the Academy of Country Music, GAC takes pride in introducing our audience to top new artists and their music early in their career,” said Sarah Trahern, General Manager and Senior Vice President at GAC. “Through this partnership we hope to introduce these six talented acts to a wider audience and enable the country music fans to choose their favorites for the coveted ACM Top New Artist prize.”

The first GAC special “ACM Showcase,” hosted by reigning ACM Top New Artist, Luke Bryan, will feature all six nominees, three from each of the two newcomer categories, and will premiere Thursday, January 27 at 10:00 PM ET. This special will re-air through February 24, when voting closes.

The winner of the new Top New Artist category will be awarded on the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

The complete list of nominees for the Academy of Country Music Awards will be announced in February.

About the Academy of Country Music Awards
The 46th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry.  The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.  Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.  For more information, please visit www.acmcountry.com.

About Great American Country (GAC)
Great American Country is the leader in country music entertainment, and delivers to viewers the widest variety of country music, its artists and the lifestyles they influence. GAC broadcasts original country music programming, music performance specials, live concerts and music videos. GAC is available in more than 59 million households and online at http://www.GACTV.com.

GAC is owned by Scripps Networks, the leading developer of lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet, including HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Travel Channel and Fine Living Network. Scripps Networks is based in Knoxville, Tenn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Nashville, and is a unit of Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI).

If you are a member of the media, please log on to the Scripps Networks Online Media Center (http://newsroom.scrippsnetworks.com) for the latest brand news, useful photos and graphics, detailed programming information, contacts and current research.

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Media Contacts:

Brooke Primero
Academy of Country Music
818.788.8000
brooke@acmcountry.com

Lee Hall
Great American Country (GAC)
865.560.3853
LHall@scrippsnetworks.com   

Ronna Rubin
Rubin Media for Great American Country (GAC)
615.298.4400
ronna@rubinmedia.biz