This year’s Academy of Country Music Honors will air on Dr. Phil’s new Merit Street Media in the first step of a new broader partnership between the two entities.
Airing Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, the annual ACM Honors will recognize previously announced honorees including ACM Lifting Lives Award recipient Luke Bryan, ACM Poet’s Award recipient Alan Jackson, ACM Triple Crown recipient Lainey Wilson and ACM Icon Award recipient Trisha Yearwood, as well as executives Walt Aldridge, Tony Brown and Shannon Sanders.
Hosted by multiple ACM Award winner Carly Pearce and reigning ACM song of the year winner Jordan Davis, the ceremony will take place Aug. 21 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and feature performances from Eric Church, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Tyler Hubbard, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde and Keith Urban, among others. Hubbard will also present the ACM studio recording and industry awards.
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“We’re excited to partner with Merit Street Media to bring one of my favorite nights of the year, ACM Honors, to households across North America through this growing network,” said Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music, in a statement. “With so many great performances honoring some of country music’s biggest stars, we can’t wait for fans to tune in to this event on Merit Street, and in the months ahead, we plan to bring even more content focused on Country Music to the Merit Street viewers.”
Though Whiteside declined to provide specifics, according to a press release, the two entities will explore programming opportunities around country music performances, behind-the-scenes and lifestyle moments, documentaries and more.
“For our first step into music programming, we can’t imagine a better marriage than Merit Street with ACM,” said Merit’s EVP/COO, Joel Cheatwood. “To kick this off with such an amazing celebration as ACM Honors is exactly what we aspired to deliver to viewers, and we look forward to creating additional original country music content for fans everywhere.”
Merit Street Media, which launched in April, dubs itself as a “destination for news and entertainment that respects your intelligence,” and is a partnership with Trinity Broadcasting Network. According to Merit Street Media, its programming reach extends to more than 80 million television homes through cable, satellite, streaming and free over-the-air platforms, including DirecTV, Dish, U-Verse and Samsung TV Plus, as well as Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, and Roku. Also among its programming are Professional Bull Riders events, which air live.
The previous two years, the ACM Honors — which are in their 17th year — aired on Fox.
Limited tickets for ACM Honors are available through AXS, including VIP packages which include a ticket in the VIP artist section of the Ryman, a ticket to the VIP pre-party reception, a commemorative Hatch Show Print poster, parking and drink tickets.