CLEAR CHANNEL, NBC TEAM UP ON iHEART RADIO MUSIC AWARDS

The show will feature 13 different award categories encompassing the primary genres, with the nominees and eventual winners determined by the votes of listeners. Each voting category initially feature 10 nominees—CLICK HERE to see all the nominees in each category—and 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 3/26 at the iHeartRadio Theater in L.A. Voting over the next several weeks will determine the winners.

The year’s most popular artists and songs will be determined by results from the new iHeartRadio Chart. Those charts, supplied and compiled by Mediabase, of course, 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. Also, for the first time ever in any music awards show, every voting category will include #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 NBC’s Paul Telegdy, whose title reads President, Alternative and Late Night Programming. "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."

Stated CC President of Entertainment Enterprises John Sykes, who’s executive producing the show with his colleague Tom Poleman: "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. 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."

In the same announcement, Clear Channel also unveiled the iHeartRadio Countdown, a new two-hour weekly program that highlights the Top 20 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 stations on Saturday or Sunday. The Countdown will also spotlight songs outside the top 20 each week with special features such as Most Social Song, Most "Thumbed Up Song" and other exclusives.

"What's unique about the iHeartRadio chart, countdown and awards is that all three are squarely focused on what the listener wants," said Poleman, whose business cards bear the words 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."

Along with Sykes and Poleman, the executive producers of the iHeart Radio Music Awards are Ryan Seacrest Productions and Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton of Done and Dusted, who’ll produce the show for NBC Studios. Hamilton will also direct.