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The Academy of Country Music Awards is looking for a new network. Insiders say that CBS has declined to renew the show for 2022 due to poor ratings and a massive licensing fee. Dick Clark Productions was asking for 22-million dollars to license the show despite losing half its viewership since 2018. CBS started airing the ACMs in 1998.
ACM announced that the 14th annual ACM Honors will take place August 25th at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, with Luke Combs, Dan+ Shay, Loretta Lynn, Rascal Flatts, and more among this year’s honorees.
- Luke Combs will be honored with the Gene Weed Milestone Award, presented for a specific, unprecedented or outstanding achievement in the field of country music during the preceding calendar year. He is receiving the honor for being “one of very few artists to claim a double-platinum album in 2021," with “What You See Is What You Get,” which produced five number one songs.
- Dan + Shay will receive the ACM Jim Reeves International Award, which is given to an artist or industry leader for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world.
- Lady A and Ross Copperman will receive the Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award, given to the "duo/group or industry professional who is devoted to improving lives through the power of music, has a generosity of spirit, and is committed to serving others."
- Toby Keith is this year’s recipient of the ACM Merle Haggard Spirit Award, presented to a singer-songwriter who embodies the spirit of the country legend “by following his/her own path, crafting great songs and epitomizing Merle’s spirit through genuine performances and great storytelling.”
- Loretta Lynn, Gretchen Peters and Curly Putman (posthumously) will receive the Poet’s Award, for outstanding and longstanding musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their career.
- Hilary Lindsey will get the Songwriter of the Year Award for a second consecutive year, which is presented to an individual known predominately as a songwriter.
- And Ken Burns, the filmmaker behind the documentary “Country Music,” will be honored with the ACM Tex Ritter Film Award, which recognizes an outstanding television movie, series or feature film released during the preceding calendar year which prominently features Country Music.