The iHeartRadio Music Awards telecast, which had originally been set to air on Fox March 29, has finally been officially canceled for this year, with the winners instead now slated to be unveiled on radio stations and social media over the four-day Labor Day weekend.
The new plan was announced by iHeartMedia Monday morning. The company said the winners will be rolled out on what it calls an “exclusive weekend-long radio and social media special” taking place Sept. 4-7 on its 840 stations as well as the standard social platforms.
The would-be March 29 telecast had been set to be hosted by Usher from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Nominations were announced January 8, which will have left contenders in suspense for nearly eight months by the time the Labor Day roll call occurs.
(That beats the mere six-and-a-half-month wait to find out the winners of the ACM Awards. Nominations for that show were announced February 27, with the delayed telecast, once planned for April, now set for Sept. 16.)
A total of 50 awards will be given out on radio and socials over the long holiday weekend, iHeartMedia said, with acceptance speeches in store for many of them. The leading nominees this year are Billie Eilish and Shawn Mendes, with seven apiece, followed by Taylor Swift and Camila Cabello with six.
Had the iHeartRadio Music Awards attempted to proceed with a televised show, it would have faced a crowded fall of music awards shows that have had dates either postponed or bumped up — all facing similar difficulties in how to pull off a telecast with (presumably) no live audience. The Billboard Latin Music Awards are Oct. 21, postponed from April. The Billboard Music Awards happen one week before, on Oct. 14, also postponed from April. The American Music Awards are slated for Nov. 22. The ACMs, as previously noted, will take place Sept, 16, with the CMAs following in that show’s usual time frame in November.
(Pictured above: Bebe Rexha wielding her award backstage at the 2019 telecast.)