NBC & Peacock Launch Country Music Spinoff Of People’s Choice Awards

The People’s Choice Awards are expanding. NBCUniversal revealed that there will now be an entire ceremony dedicated to country music.

The People’s Choice Country Awards will air in September across NBC and Peacock, live from the world-famous Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville. 

The two-hour telecast will “lean into the rich connection between country music and the Opry through chart-topping musical performances, genre-bending collaborations, legendary tributes and surprise moments that regularly happen from the iconic venue,” according to NBCU.

The People’s Choice Country Awards will recognize the “biggest and best” of country music, chosen entirely by fans. Honorary awards will also be bestowed.

“We’re excited to partner with the Grand Ole Opry to bring the year’s biggest celebration in country music to Nashville,” said Cassandra Tryon, Senior Vice President, Live Events, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming. “Country fans are passionate about their music and there’s no better place to host this event than from country music’s biggest stage.”  

The telecast will be produced by Den of Thieves with Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski serving as executive producers.

The People’s Choice Awards currently has a category for the best country artist of the year, which went to Carrie Underwood in 2022. Country artists are often recognized in the general categories as well. Last year’s telecast drew about 3.8M viewers, according to live+same-day Nielsen data.

The People’s Choice Awards was originally acquired by E! in 2017, with its first telecast airing on the network in 2018. The country awards ceremony is part of a collaboration from NBCUniversal’s equity investment in Opry Entertainment Group alongside Atairos, which was finalized last year.