50th Annual Country Music Association Awards
The 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards, commonly known as CMA 50 or the 50th CMA Awards, were held on November 2, 2016 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The ceremony recognizes some of the best country music released during the eligibility period (between July 1, 2015 and July 20, 2016). It is the eleventh ceremony to be held at the Arena, the seventeenth to be held in November and the ninth night to be co-hosted by country stars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. The ceremony was directed by Paul Miller.
| 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 2, 2016 |
| Location | Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Brad Paisley Carrie Underwood |
| Most awards | Chris Stapleton (2) |
| Most nominations | Maren Morris Chris Stapleton (5 each) |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | ABC |
| Viewership | 12.5 million |
As it was the 50th anniversary of the awards, the Country Music Association ran an extensive promotional campaign and CMA Executive Produced Robert Deaton stated that the aim of the ceremony was to include a lot of "heritage artists" and honor the history of country music, stressing that there would be less of a focus on artists promoting their current singles as is usually the case so that greater time could be spent including "exciting throwbacks".
Nominations for the 50th CMA Awards were revealed on October 5, 2016 during Good Morning America by Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban and Cam live from the Grand Ole Opry.