Billboard Awards Rescheduled for October 2020

This year’s Billboard Music Awards have been rescheduled for a new date, with the annual show now set to take place on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The show will air live on NBC and additional details will be announced at a later date. The 2020 Billboard Music Awards were originally scheduled to air live from Las Vegas on April 29 but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kelly Clarkson, who was previously announced as host, is still set to helm the show, a job she first took on in 2018. “I’m thrilled to be back with my Billboard family,” Clarkson said in a statement earlier this year, via Billboard. “I love being part of an event that celebrates our greatest artists and entertains our fans. This a night of music that you won’t want to miss!”

The BBMAs name its nominees and winners based on key fan interactions with music including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement, which are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

With this year’s show, Clarkson will become the third person to host the annual event three or more times, joining comedian Kathy Griffin and rapper Ludacris. The 2020 show will mark Clarkson’s first turn as host since becoming an Emmy winner after she picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host in June for her work on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

During both of her years as host, Clarkson has opened the show with a medley of songs from that year’s nominated artists, and last year, she hosted while dealing with appendicitis, revealing the next day that she had had surgery early in the morning after the show.

The 2019 ceremony, held on May 1, won the night in ratings, averaging a 2.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 8 million viewers, according to “live plus same day” ratings from Nielsen Media Research. The ceremony delivered NBC’s top-rated in-season Wednesday in 18-49, excluding Olympics, since Dec. 7, 2016. Drake was 2019’s big winner, setting a new record with 27 total BBMA wins and edging out Taylor Swift, who was awarded Billboard‘s Woman of the Decade last year.