CMT Music Awards to be broadcast from Austin

SAN ANTONIO – Next year’s CMT Music Awards will take place in Texas for the first time ever.

The fan-voted awards show will air live from the Moody Center in Austin on Sunday, April 2.

Kelsea Ballerini will return as co-host for the third year with Carrie Underwood. The pair revealed the news during Ballerini’s Moody Center stop Wednesday night on her “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour.”

Underwood is also scheduled to perform during the April awards show that airs on CBS.

“Both Austin and Nashville are two of the world’s greatest music cities, and we couldn’t be more excited to announce the return of the CMT MUSIC AWARDS on CBS than with co-host Kelsea Ballerini surprising Carrie Underwood, our most awarded artist, in the middle of her incredible live performance at Moody Center – the exact venue where we’ll all be back exactly five months from today!” said Margaret Comeaux, John Hamlin, Leslie Fram and Jason Owen, executive producers of the CMT Music Awards in a press release . “Our fans are in for an unforgettable night of music with plenty of surprises, as the Live Music Capital meets Music City for the first time ever on a national stage in what will be a true country music extravaganza.”

“This event will have not only a huge financial impact on Austin and its tourism industry, but it will also showcase two of the top music brands globally, Austin as The Live Music Capital of the World and Country Music Television,” said Tom Noonan, the president and CEO of Austin CVB.

More details, including lineup details, ticket prices and the on-sale date are forthcoming.