CMT News

The Country Music Association confirmed that The 35th Annual CMA Awards will be held Nov. 7, as previously reported by country.com. Normally the special airs on CBS-TV in late September or early October. The show is moving to November to avoid a concentration of awards programs in September. The Latin Grammys are scheduled for Sept. 12 and the Emmy awards are slated for Sept. 16. "If we stayed in the usual place in the primary season premiere week -- the third week in September -- we would have been on Sept. 19," CMA executive director Ed Benson recently told country.com. "Nobody thought it was a good idea to be the third award show in a week." The new date moves the CMA awards show into November sweeps, a ratings period during which networks schedule programs expected to attract a large viewership. The move also lengthens the eligibility period for the awards, which is being extended an extra month, from May 30 to June 30, 2001. For the 10th consecutive year, Vince Gill will host the CMA awards, televised live from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.