The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs (not to be confused with the ACM Awards), are presented to country music artists and broadcasters according to voting by CMA members. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium in 1967; the Entertainer of the Year award that night went to Eddy Arnold. The second annual CMA awards were presented in October 1968; NBC taped the ceremony and televised it a few weeks later. In following years the awards were televised live, usually in October or November, by NBC from 1969 through 1971, then by CBS from 1972 through 2005, and then by the ABC beginning in 2006. For many years they were held at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry (initially at Ryman Auditorium, and from 1974 through 2004 at the new Grand Ole Opry House). In 2005 they were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Since 2006 they have been held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
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