ACM Awards, Related Events Had Major Impact on Fans

The Academy of Country Music has released consumer impact stats from its recent ACM Awards and related events. According to the report, the events reached about 21 million television viewers, and 150,000 fans on the ground in Las Vegas.

Telecasts
The ACM Awards telecast on April 1 and ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert on April 13 together reached approximately 21 million viewers and won each of the nights they aired for the CBS Television Network. Approximately 12.5 million viewers tuned in to the live Awards telecast, and the Lionel Richie special averaged about 8 million viewers.

Fan Digital Engagement
A combined one million votes for Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year were cast by fans, up 25% from 2011.

Digital fan engagement was up 330% from 2011, according to social TV analytics company BlueFin. Many of the fans watching the ACM Awards enjoyed the second screen experience of the first-ever ACM Social Splash page, an interactive social page that took over the ACMcountry.com homepage, to interact with the show, the artists and other fans using social media during the live telecast.

The Academy and new social media manager Jenny Driessen, teamed with dick clark productions and CBS to develop a multi-pronged digital strategy. The plan included CBS’ 2 Broke Girls’ Beth Behrs acting as the Awards special social correspondent; live tweets from artists and fans displayed on-screen during special parts of the telecast for the first time; a free mobile ACM app; GetGlue check-ins; ACM Awards Moments on Facebook/Twitter contests; and a “mashup” app powered by Audish that invited fans to insert themselves into videos by ACM Awards hosts Reba and Blake Shelton.

ACM Events
The ACM Lifting Lives Celebrity Golf Classic, the NRA Country/ACM Celebrity Shoot, ACM Concerts on Fremont Street Experience and the debut of The ACM Experience, helped the Academy reach over 150,000 country music fans and members of the industry in Las Vegas during Awards week.

The ACM Experience, the free, open-to-the public country music lifestyle event at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino was attended by more than 20,000 people. The fan-focused three-day event included the ACM BBQ Throwdown, ACM Expo, the Ram Ride and Drive and more.

Approximately 90,000 fans crowded the ACM Concerts on Fremont Street Experience sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on March 30 and 31.

More than 4,800 country music fans attended the sold-out ACM All-Star Jam following the Awards at the MGM Grand.