How to watch the CMA Awards 2023 online or on TV: catch the country show live

The official banner for the CMA Awards 2023
(Image credit: Country Music Association)

One of the biggest events in this year's country music calendar is Wednesday, November 8, because that's when the CMA Awards 2023 takes place, celebrating another year of great country music.

Quick links

US: ABC (live TV streaming services) | Hulu for highlights
UK:
Not streaming, BBC Radio 4 for highlights
AU: Stan
VPN: 
ExpressVPN

This year's Country Music Association Awards has a stacked line-up of attendees. Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan host, with Lady A, Darius Rucker, Keith Urban, Sara Evans and more all set to hand out awards while Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Old Dominion, Post Malone and more all scheduled to show up on stage.

It's set to be a busy night for country music fans, with lots to see and enjoy. You can find a full list of nominations and performers below, but before that let's get to the important information. Here's how you can watch the CMA Awards 2023 wherever you are.

How to watch the CMA Awards 2023 in the US

The main way to watch the CMA Awards is by tuning into your local ABC station, as the award show is airing on the network. Only local stations in Eastern and Central time zones are showing it live, at 8 pm ET/7 pm CT. The awards show is airing at 7 pm MT/8 pm PT in local stations in those time zones.

If you don't have a cable subscription or a TV antenna to that receives your local ABC station, then lots of live TV streaming services can help you find a way to stream it over the internet. Fubo, DirecTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV all have local ABC stations as part of their bundles.

Don't need to watch it live? Then you can use Hulu, as the entire show's broadcast will be uploaded on Thursday, November 9. You can sign up to the service itself or the Disney Bundle, which costs just $9.99 monthly and includes Disney Plus too.

How to watch the CMA Awards 2023 in the UK

Unlike certain other country music nights, the CMA Awards won't be airing in the UK. However highlights will... a week late.

At 10:35 pm on Friday, November 17, BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting an hour-long highlights reel from the show, hosted by Bob Harris. Afterward, you can catch up using iPlayer.

However, if you want to watch the show live, you need to find an alternative arrangement...

How to watch the CMA Awards 2023 in Australia

You can watch the CMA Awards in Australia by using the streaming service Stan, which has announced that it's the official and exclusive broadcaster of the event.

The show is streaming at the same time it takes place in the US: that's on Thursday, November 9, at 11am AEDT.

Stan offers a 30-day free trial and then costs $10 each month for its Basic plan, $16 for Standard and $21 for Premium, with each tier getting you higher-resolution streaming, more devices to download on and more concurrent streams. With regard to the CMA Awards, it's the former you want to pay attention to: Only Standard and above let you watch in HD.

How to watch the CMA Awards 2023 everywhere else

If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the Country Music Association Awards, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 

A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite shows, movies, live events or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.

ExpressVPN

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CMA Awards 2023 hosts, presenters and performers

Who's hosting the CMA Awards 2023?

Hosting the CMA Awards 2023 are Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan, returning after hosting in 2022 too.

Bryan is a country staple who's also going to be performing a medley of some of his songs during the night.

Manning is an NFL Hall of Fame quarterback who's now a media personality, perhaps best known for his Manningcast of Monday Night Football games alongside brother Eli Manning.

Who's presenting the CMA Awards 2023

The full list of presenters for the CMA Awards is:

  • Lady A
  • Keith Urban
  • Martina McBride
  • Darius Rucker
  • Sara Evans
  • Hailey Whitters
  • Chris Young
  • Parker McCollum
  • Jordan Davis
  • Brian Kelley
  • Cynthia Erivo
  • Paula Abdul
  • Kevin Cahoon
  • Bill Anderson
  • Corey Seager
  • Nate Bargatze
  • Craig Morgan
  • Gerry Turner

Who's performing at the CMA Awards 2023?

There's a long list of performers for the CMA Awards 2023. It includes:

  • Morgan Wallen, HARDY & Post Malone
  • Morgan Wallen (solo)
  • Luke Combs
  • Jimmy Buffet tribute (Kenney Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson & Mac McAnally) 
  • Ashley McBryde
  • Kelsea Ballerini
  • Dan+Shay
  • Jordan Davis
  • Cody Johnson
  • The War and Treaty

CMA Awards 2023 Nominees

Entertainer

  • Carrie Underwood
  • Lainey Wilson
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Chris Stapleton
  • Luke Combs

Single

  • "Fast Car" by Luke Combs
  • "Heart Like A Truck" by Lainey Wilson
  • "Need a Favor" by Jelly Roll
  • "Next Thing You Know" by Jordan Davis
  • "wait in the truck" by HARDY

Album

  • Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville by Ashley McBryde
  • Bell Bottom Country by Lainey Wilson
  • Gettin' Old by Luke Combs
  • One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen
  • Rolling Up the Welcome Mat by Kelsea Ballerini

Song

  • "Fast Car" written by Tracy Chapman
  • "Heart Like A Truck" written by Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson & Lainey Wilson
  • "Next Thing You Know" written by Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill and Josh Osborne
  • "Tennessee Orange" written by David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney and Ben Williams
  • "wait in the truck" written by Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt

Female vocalist

  • Kelsea Ballerini
  • Miranda Lambert
  • Ashley McBryde
  • Carly Pearce
  • Lainey Wilson

Male Vocalist

  • Luke Combs
  • Cody Johnson
  • Jelly Roll
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Chris Stapleton

Vocal group

  • Little Big Town
  • Lady A
  • Zac Brown Band
  • Midland
  • Old Dominion

Vocal Duo

  • Brooks & Dunn
  • Dan + Shay
  • The War and Treaty
  • Brothers Osborne
  • Maddie & Tae

Musical event

  • "She Had Me At Heads Carolina (Remix)" by Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina
  • "wait in the truck" by HARDY (feat Lainey Wilson)
  • "Thank God" by Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
  • "We Don't Fight Anymore" by Carly Pearce (featuring Chris Stapleton)
  • "Save Me" by Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)

Musician

  • Jenee Fleenor
  • Rob McNelley
  • Charlie Worsham
  • Derek Wells
  • Paul Franklin

Music Video

  • "Need A Favor" by Jelly Roll
  • "Memory Lane" by Old Dominion
  • "Light On In The Kitchen" by Ashley McBryde
  • "Next Thing You Know" by Jordan Davis
  • "wait in the truck" by Hardy (feat Lainey Wilson)

New Artist

  • Megan Moroney
  • Hailey Whitters
  • Jelly Roll
  • Zach Bryan
  • Parker McCollum
Tom Bedford
Streaming and Ecommerce Writer

Tom is the streaming and ecommerce writer at What to Watch, covering streaming services in the US and UK. His goal is to help you navigate the busy and confusing online video market, to help you find the TV, movies and sports that you're looking for without having to spend too much money.