CMT AIRWAVES TO BE RULED BY CARRIE UNDERWOOD BEGINNING OCTOBER 17

Back-to-Back Carrie Celebration Kicks Off with 'CMT Instant Jam' Premiere on October 17, Culminating with Special Weekend Takeover Featuring New Interviews, Most Memorable Performances, Best Music Videos and More on October 24-25

NASHVILLE - October 14, 2015 - CMT today announced back-to-back weekend celebrations of all things Carrie Underwood with the premiere of "CMT Instant Jam: Carrie Underwood" on Saturday, October 17 at 10 p.m., ET/PT, followed by a special takeover weekend October 24-25 timed to the release of her highly-anticipated fifth album, "Storyteller," out October 23.

To kick things off, CMT premieres "CMT Instant Jam: Carrie Underwood" on Saturday, October 17 at 10 p.m., ET/PT. The one-hour show captures all the excitement surrounding Underwood's surprise concert in Atlanta last month at local music venue Variety Playhouse. Performing in front of only a few hundred fans, Underwood rocks out to some of her biggest hits including "Blown Away," "Undo It," "Before He Cheats," current single "Smoke Break" and more. Encore presentations of "CMT Instant Jam" air Sunday, October 18 at noon, ET/PT and Sunday, October 25 at 8 a.m., ET/PT.

The following weekend, Carrie's takeover on CMT includes an encore of her hit "CMT Crossroads" with Steven Tyler, a special Carrie co-hosted edition of "CMT Hot 20 Countdown," video blocks with custom intros from the superstar, features on CMT Radio and more.

Highlights include:

"CMT Hot 20 Countdown" - Saturday, October 24 at 9 a.m., ET/PT

Carrie utilizes her veteran hosting skills when she joins Cody Alan as co-host for a special episode of "CMT Hot 20 Countdown" on Saturday, October 24 at 9 a.m., ET/PT. The duo counts down the hottest videos in country music for the week, while taking a look at CMT's favorite Carrie videos and finding out what she has planned for her first Halloween with son, Isaiah. An encore episode of "CMT Hot 20 Countdown" airs Sunday, October 25 at 9 a.m., ET/PT.

"CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood" - on Saturday, October 24 at noon, ET/PT

As part of the weekend takeover, CMT encores its highest-rated "CMT Crossroads" in ten years - "CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood" - on Saturday, October 24 at noon, ET/PT. The unforgettable collaboration between Tyler and Underwood from Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis features an incredible mash-up of Underwood's "Just A Dream" alongside Aerosmith's "Dream On," special performances of "Walk This Way," "Undo It," Steppenwolf's classic "Born To Be Wild" and many more.

Carrie Featured on CMT Radio and During CMT/CMT Pure Music Hours

Beginning October 19th and leading into her weekend takeover, Carrie conquers CMT and CMT Pure music hours with double-shot videos of all of her hits to date, featuring custom introductions by Carrie herself. In addition, CMT Radio highlights the superstar across all of its platforms including "CMT After MidNite with Cody Alan," "CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan" and "CMT All Access," with exclusive videos posting daily at www.cmtcody.com.

For more information visit CMT.com, like CMT on Facebook, follow @CMT on Twitter and Instagram and use hashtag #CMTCarrieWeekend.

ABOUT CARRIE UNDERWOOD:

Carrie Underwood emerged from the promise of her 2005 American Idol win to become a true multi-format, multi-media superstar, spanning achievements in music, television, and film. A seven-time GRAMMY(R) Award winner, she has amassed nearly 100 major honors, sold 58 million records worldwide, and recorded 21 #1 singles, 11 of which she co-wrote. The first female artist to be twice named the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, Underwood was recognized as Pollstar's top female country touring artist for her headlining tours in 2008, 2010, and 2012. Her four studio albums, Some Hearts, Carnival Ride, Play On, and Blown Away - each certified multi-Platinum or Platinum, and each an American Music Awards winner as Country Album of the Year - tallied 38 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart with songs that have been streamed more than 1.5 billion times worldwide. In 2013, she starred as Maria von Trapp in NBC's three-hour holiday blockbuster, the Emmy(R)-winning The Sound of Music Live!, whose airings attracted 44 million viewers. In late 2014, the Grand Ole Opry member released her first hits collection, Greatest Hits: Decade #1. Celebrating her first 10 years of music, the 25 songs included two new hits co-written by Underwood: the Platinum-certified, GRAMMY-winning "Something in the Water," as well as the #1 smash "Little Toy Guns." In September of 2015, she began her third season as the voice of primetime television's #1 program, Sunday Night Football, and on November 4, she'll return for an eighth consecutive year as co-host of the CMA Awards. Underwood is at radio now with her record-breaking single "Smoke Break," the first single released from her fifth studio album, Storyteller, out worldwide on October 23, 2015.

CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S. CMT, CMT.com and CMT Radio offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and are the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT App, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.