The 2023 CMT Music Awards will air Sunday, April 2 live from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center for the first time ever, after being held in Nashville since its inception. The 2023 edition of the fan-voted show will premiere exclusively via the CBS Television Network, and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Multi-Platinum entertainer Kelsea Ballerini will return as co-host for the third consecutive year. She revealed the news on Wednesday night (Nov. 2) during a surprise on-stage moment with country superstar Carrie Underwood as part of her sold-out “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour” stop at Moody Center. Underwood, who holds the title as the winningest artist in CMT history—notching a total of 25 trophies—was also revealed as the first performer for the 2023 show.

“Both Austin and Nashville are two of the world’s greatest music cities and we couldn’t be more excited to announce the return of the CMT Music Awards on CBS than with co-host Kelsea Ballerini surprising Carrie Underwood, our most awarded artist, in the middle of her incredible live performance at Moody Center—the exact venue where we’ll all be back exactly five months from today!” share the show’s Executive Producers, Margaret Comeaux, John Hamlin, Leslie Fram and Jason Owen. “Our fans are in for an unforgettable night of music with plenty of surprises, as the Live Music Capital meets Music City for the first time ever on a national stage in what will be a true country music extravaganza.”

“The programming team at Oak View Group and Moody Center has spent the past two years cultivating this relationship and working to endear CMT, CBS and Paramount to Austin and our new, world-class arena. CMT’s commitment to Austin reflects those efforts and we couldn’t be more grateful and excited to host them next year,” explains Michael Owens, Vice President of Programming, Moody Center.

“We are beyond thrilled to welcome the CMT Music Awards to Moody Center in 2023! This event will have not only a huge financial impact on Austin and its tourism industry, but it will also showcase two of the top music brands globally, Austin as the live music capital of the world and Country Music Television,” adds Tom Noonan, President & CEO, Austin CVB.

Underwood is currently on her 43-city U.S. arena tour, which kicked off Oct. 15 and continues through spring 2023, with upcoming stops at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena.

Ballerini, an award-winning songwriter, producer and performer, recently released her fourth studio album, Subject To Change, and wrapped a sold out, 10-city headlining run. She is next appearing as part of the historic concert event “The Judds: Love Is Alive – The Final Concert,” premiering in March 2023 on CMT.

For its inaugural year on CBS, the 2022 CMT Music Awards delivered 5.89 million viewers—a 529% increase from June 2021—and dominated on socials with 2.7 billion impressions across platforms.

Additional details for the 2023 CMT Music Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.

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