CMT Awards Are Channel’s Most-Watched Show of Year

More than 9.6 million viewers cumulative* tuned in for the premiere and encore telecasts of the 2009 CMT Music Awards on Tuesday, June 16 on CMT. This makes it the network’s most-watched telecast of the year, and ranks it third in the history of the awards. Increased fan interaction online led CMT.com to a record 7.5 million votes for this year’s Awards, up 45% from last year’s 5 million. The entire show can be viewed at CMT.com.

Fans also flocked to CMT.com after the show, where the site hit an all-time high with over 1 million single-day streams on Wednesday, June 17. Taylor Swift and T-Pain’s “Thug Story” became the most-streamed video for the day and now holds the record for best video premiere ever on CMT.com. Sugarland’s “Love Shack” featuring the B-52s is the No. 2 streaming performance from the show, with Kellie Pickler’s “Best Days Of Your Life” ranking No. 3.

Immediately following the live awards show telecast, CMT’s new series The Singing Bee became the channel’s highest-rated series debut of all time. Also on CMT is the new season of Can You Duet, which premiered Sat., June 20 with judges Naomi Judd, Big Kenny, and Big Machine Records President and CEO Scott Borchetta.

*Nielsen Media Research (cume P 2+ / 1 minute qualifier); includes live 2009 CMT Music Awards telecast which aired at 8 p.m. ET, along with the retelecast at 11:30 p.m ET.

Bryan Adams will share the stage with country rocker, Jason Aldean, when the pair team up for CMT CROSSROADS. CMT CROSSROADS: BRYAN ADAMS AND JASON ALDEAN taped before an invitation only audience at the Factory (Frankin, Tenn.) in May and premieres Friday, June 26 at 9:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT. Margaret Comeaux-Executive Producer, CMT; Brian Philips-President, CMT; Bryan Adams; Jason Aldean; John Hamlin-Senior VP, Production and Development, CMT; Bill Flanagan-EVP Editorial Director, MTVN; and Tom Forrest, Executive Producer, Taillight TV. Photo: John Russell