CMA’s big night

Record sales are down – again – and the economy has weakened heading into the important Christmas sales season, all of which make the stakes even higher than usual for the 42nd CMA Awards, country’s biggest night and possibly also its biggest advertisement.

A high-profile presidential election and sinking ad revenues have led to cutbacks in live television coverage of the awards, one of the key ways in which the Country Music Association’s signature event has been promoted in recent years. Meanwhile, album sales in the genre are slumping even worse than the recording industry as a whole.

But even with the economy tipping toward a likely recession, advertisers and audiences still appear to be bullish on the awards show itself, which airs Wednesday on ABC.

“The CMA Awards show is different than just a high-rated TV show,” said John Sharpe, a partner and chief marketing officer at Nashville-based Bohan Advertising/Marketing. “People are particularly engaged in what goes on in that award show.”

Country music needs an engaged audience. Through the beginning of November, sales of country music albums, including digital albums and equivalents, had dropped 26 percent to 34.7 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That was a greater decline than in overall album sales, which had fallen 14 percent over the same period.

Country music’s share of the market has consequently slipped to 10.4 percent, down from 11.5 percent last year and 12.7 percent in 2006.

But the CMA Awards could provide some help for the country music industry. Coming at the start of the Christmas shopping season, the event is meant to showcase the year’s best albums and artists. Many artists time new releases to ride the buzz from the show.

“There’s no question there’s a promotional piece,” said Maria Eckhardt, a CMA spokeswoman.

Show draws viewers

The CMA Awards have been a reliable ratings producer for ABC, which lured the show away from longtime broadcaster CBS with a six-year deal that started in 2006.

Last year, the show drew an average of 16 million viewers over its three-hour run, about as many as a typical episode of “Dancing with the Stars” or “Sunday Night Football.” As important, the show drew well with viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, the television industry’s most coveted demographic.

But this year, the economy and the cost of covering the presidential election have taken the pop out of one of the show’s most effective tactics for bringing viewers to the show. Only 10 ABC affiliates are planning to send crews to broadcast live from the event, down from 13 a year ago.

Live feeds from Sommet Center have in the past helped the show build audience. Viewers seem to respond well to having familiar personalities talk about the broadcast in advance, said Wendy Pearl, the CMA’s vice president of communications.

The CMA will try to replace those crews with an internally produced red carpet show hosted by Dancing with the Stars personality and singer Julianne Hough and musician Craig Morgan. The association would not disclose the cost of the show, parts of which will be prerecorded and parts of which will be live, but it is being sponsored by Chevrolet and is available free of charge to ABC affiliates.

So far, about 40 stations, including ones in Phoenix, New Orleans and Tampa, have picked up the red carpet show.

“We hope it’s going to increase audience,” Pearl said.

Advertisers committed

Chevrolet will also return this year as a main sponsor of the show itself. That role also includes sponsoring the show’s kickoff concert, which will include performances by Rodney Atkins and Kevin Costner on Tuesday.

Mary Kay Cosmetics will also serve as a primary sponsor. It will back a fundraiser to combat domestic violence.

The show remains attractive for advertisers, marketing experts said.

Although the economic downturn has led companies to reassess their spending, they still have to keep their names in front of audiences, said Raquel Bueno, media buying director for The Buntin Group, a Nashville firm. As such, shows that deliver a targeted audience can be attractive to advertisers.

“If it’s relevant and it’s priced appropriately … we would buy whatever makes sense for our clients,” Bueno said.

Country music fans’ loyalty to the show is also a plus, Sharpe said. Even in an era of digital recording devices, country lovers make a point of watching the show as it unfolds, eager to see whether their favorite artist has won or lost.

“You can still use the term ‘appointment viewing,’ ” Sharpe said. “There aren’t many shows you can describe as appointment viewing anymore.”