NEW YORK and UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — February 26, 2014 — NBC and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment announced today that NBC will televise the first-ever iHeartRadio Music Awards May 1 (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) from the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
The three-hour iHeartRadio Music Awards will showcase this year’s biggest artists and songs and feature live performances, never-before-done duets and collaborations, celebrity guest appearances and live award presentations. The show, which will feature performances from other Los Angeles venues, will also broadcast and stream live the audio across all participating Clear Channel radio stations and their websites, and on iHeartRadio.
The iHeartRadio Music Awards, which will feature the most popular artists and songs of the year, will be based on results from the all-new iHeartRadio Chart. Those charts are supplied and compiled by Mediabase, the music industry’s No. 1 source for monitored airplay. They include listener feedback and performance data, according to airplay; digital streaming data from the iHeartRadio platform, including “thumbs up” and custom station creations; and sales, social, video data and tags from BigChampagne and Shazam. In addition, for the first time ever in any music awards show, every voting category will include social #hashtags as the primary voting mechanism.
“Collaborating with a company that has the global reach of Clear Channel allows us to interact with music fans all over the world,” said Paul Telegdy, President, Alternative and Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment. “We feel fortunate being on the ground floor of the iHeartRadio Music Awards, which will deliver an array of great performances from today’s biggest stars.”
“With a reach of more than 240 million people every month, Clear Channel has an unparalleled ability to identify and track the biggest artists and songs in the country,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for Clear Channel. “The iHeartRadio Music Awards will be the first awards show in history to reflect America’s favorite music, and which is truly powered by the people.”
The iHeartRadio Music Awards will recognize the most popular artists and music over the past 12 months as determined by iHeartRadio listeners. The show will feature 13 different award categories across all genres of music. Each voting category will initially feature 10 nominees — listeners will then narrow down to five finalists during a four-week period, with the finalists to be announced during a one-hour special live event on March 26, 2014 at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. Fans will then vote over the next several weeks to determine the winners in each category.
In the months leading up to the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Clear Channel will feature interviews and special programming focusing on the nominees across all of its 835 radio stations and the iHeartRadio digital service. Fans will also participate through Clear Channel’s social and digital media platforms.
Clear Channel also today unveils the iHeartRadio Countdown, its new two-hour weekly program that highlights the top 20 Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) songs in the iHeartRadio Chart. The new show will be co-hosted each week by a major artist and iHeartRadio’s own Romeo on the Radio, airing on all Clear Channel Top 40/Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) stations on Saturday or Sunday. The iHeartRadio Countdown will also spotlight songs outside the top 20 each week with special features such as Most Social Song, the iHeartRadio Most “Thumbed Up Song,” iHeartRadio exclusives, along with premieres and sneak peeks from that week’s guest host.
“What’s unique about the iHeartRadio chart, countdown and awards is that all three are squarely focused on what the listener wants,” said Tom Poleman, President of National Programming Platforms for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. “For the first time, these three interconnected programs have shifted the power of how we measure an artist’s success — and, in turn, what’s heard on the radio and celebrated with awards — to the critically important listener.”
The iHeartRadio Awards will be executive produced by John Sykes and Tom Poleman of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton of Done and Dusted Inc., who will produce the show for NBC Studios. Hamilton will also direct.
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