THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK AND THE COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCE THE DATE FOR "THE 47TH ANNUAL CMA AWARDS"

The ABC Television Network and The Country Music Association have announced that "The 47th Annual CMA Awards" will air on Wednesday, November 6, 2013.The ceremony will be held in the heart of "Music City" at The Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and will be televised live on ABC.

"The CMA Awards is recognized as the 'Country Music's Biggest Night,' and that is what sets us apart from every other award show," said Ed Hardy, President of the CMA Board of Directors. "This is the night we recognize the best in the format - as chosen by the industry - and it is undeniably the most highly anticipated event of the year for our constituents. It's a night to honor our finest performers, songwriters, record producers, musicians and music video directors."

"The 46th Annual CMA Awards" were presented on Nov. 1, 2012, at the Bridgestone Arena and were hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. The CMA Awards presentation was televised live on the ABC Television Network.

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the more than 7,000 industry professional members of CMA, which was the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958.

Winners of "The 47th Annual CMA Awards" will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting members of CMA. CMA Awards balloting is officiated by the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The eligibility period for the 2013 CMA Awards is July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. All voting for "The 47th Annual CMA Awards" will be conducted online.

The second ballot will be emailed to CMA members Tuesday, Aug. 20. Voting for the second ballot closes at Friday, Aug. 30 (5:00 p.m., CT). The final nominees in each of the 12 categories will be announced in September.

Winners of "The 47th Annual CMA Awards" will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible CMA members. The third and final ballot will be emailed on Thursday, Oct. 10. Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot ends Monday, Oct. 28 (5:00 p.m., CT).

Ticket information for the CMA Awards will be announced later this summer with information available at CMAawards.com. Or follow the conversation on Twitter at #CMAawards.

"The 47th Annual CMA Awards" is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the executive producer and Paul Miller is the director. The CMA Awards will be shot in high definition and broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

The first "CMA Awards Banquet and Show" was held in 1967. The following year, the CMA Awards was broadcast for the first time - making it the longest running, annual music awards program on network television. The Awards have aired on ABC since 2006. ABC will be the network home of the CMA Awards and CMA's other two television properties, "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" and "CMA Country Christmas," through 2021.