1.4 Million Viewers Celebrate a Triumphant Year in Canadian Music with CTV's Broadcast of THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS as Young Audiences Jump 42%

– Cumulative audience grows to 1.7 million viewers, up 3% –
– Blockbuster broadcast sees increases in all key demos versus last year –
– Twitter engagement grows 90% –
– THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS is now available on demand at Junos.CTV.ca and the CTV GO app –

­­­To tweet this release: bmpr.ca/1Ma6hoa

TORONTO, April 4, 2016 /CNW/ - A broadcast full of Canada's rising young musical stars attracted 42% more A18-34 viewers to THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS last night on CTV, preliminary overnight audiences from Numeris confirms. Increasing its audience versus last year in all key demos, an average of 1.4 million viewers watched the two-hour live show on a very competitive night of television, up 2% in total viewers. The broadcast, featuring some of the hottest Canadian acts in the world including Alessia Cara, Shawn Mendes, and The Weeknd, grew its audience every hour, reaching 5.2 million viewers overall and peaking with 1.7 million viewers during Bryan Adam's performance of "Go Down Rockin". THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS, hosted by eight-time JUNO Award winner Jann Arden and THE AMAZING RACE CANADA host Jon Montgomery, was broadcast in 4K from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

A ratings snapshot reveals:

• A cumulative average audience of 1.7 million Canadians watched THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS Sunday, up 3% versus last year, with the encore audience included.
• For the main broadcast, audiences grew 42% among A18-34, 15% among A18-49, and 7% among A25-54 versus last year.
• THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS drew 10% more viewers than the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS (CBS/Global, 1.2 million), and head-to-head from 8-9 p.m. led the ACM AWARDS by double digits in total viewers and all key demos (+23%, 2+; +21%, A18-34; + 32%, A18-49; and +49%, A25-54).
• THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS was among the Top 2 entertainment programs on television Sunday with total viewers in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal.

**Media Note** - Download photos from last night's THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS at BellMediaPR.ca.

THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS experience extended online and on social media last night.  The broadcast captivated Twitter with 1.8 billion estimated impressions from 1.1 million mentions of JUNOS-related topics, up 90% from last year. Throughout the broadcast #JUNOS and #JUNOS2016 were trending in Canada, with top tweeted moments being Shawn Mendes' performance followed by Alessia Cara's opening number.

THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS is now available on demand at CTV.ca and on CTV GO. Encore broadcasts of THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS air at the following times:

• Tonight at 7 p.m. ET on Much
• Sunday, April 10 at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET on M3
• Sunday, April 23 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CTV2

Calgary rocked the nation during last night's live, two-hour broadcast on CTV. Co-hosts Jann Arden and Jon Montgomery led a show that boasted 13 bespoke performances, the most ever, including an exciting show-opener by 2016 Breakthrough Artist of the Year winner, Alessia Cara, with a medley of her hit songs "Here" and "Wild Things". JUNO newcomer Scott Helman took the stage for a fun performance of "Bungalow"; Saturday night's double JUNO-winner Buffy Sainte-Marie performed an emotional  spoken word piece; in his JUNO debut, Shawn Hook performed his hit single "Sound of Your Heart" accompanied by a string quartet; LIGHTS and MusiCounts recipient Samantha Spensley sang a heartfelt performance in support of the MusiCounts TD Community Music Program; Coleman Hell took the JUNO stage for the first time singing his massive hit "2 Heads"; Shawn Mendes returned to the JUNO stage singing an intimate rendition of mega-hit "Stitches"; Whitehorse wowed audiences with an acoustic version of their song "Tame as the Wild Ones"; five-time JUNO winner, The Weeknd delivered a never-before-seen performance tailored specifically for the broadcast featuring surprise guest, Belly; Breakthrough Group of the Year winner Dear Rouge sang their hit single "I Heard I Had"; iconic Canadian rocker Bryan Adams took the stage to sing his new single "Go Down Rockin"; and 2016 Country Album of the Year winner Dean Brody rocked the house with a disco version of his hit "Bring Down the House".

Finally, Nickelback inducted Burton Cummings into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. To close the show, Cummings was honoured with a special tribute performance featuring Jann Arden, Shawn Hook, The Tenors, and The Carpet Frogs, along with Burton Cummings. To watch all the performances, click here.

Since CTV joined forces with CARAS in 2002, the JUNO Awards have travelled across Canada, bringing an exhilarating live concert to millions of Canadians. CTV has broadcast THE JUNO AWARDS from St. John's (2002 and 2010), Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004), Winnipeg (2005 and 2014), Halifax (2006), Saskatoon (2007), Calgary (2008 and 2016), Vancouver (2009), Toronto (2011), Ottawa for a second time (2012), and Regina (2013). Ottawa is set to host THE 2017 JUNO AWARDS in Canada's Sesquicentennial Year, the third time Canada's Music Awards have travelled to the nation's capital.

THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS is produced by Insight Productions in association with CTV and The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). Executive Producers are John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby for Insight Productions, and Allan Reid and Mark Cohon for CARAS, and Randy Lennox for Bell Media. Lindsay Cox is Supervising Producer. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, CTV Networks and CraveTV, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting, Bell Media.

The broadcast sponsors of THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS are Google Play Music, Samsung Canada, TD Bank Group, Tim Hortons, and Volkswagen Canada.

Premier Partners of The 2016 JUNO Awards: CARAS acknowledges the financial support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada and of Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters, Radio Starmaker Fund, the Province of Alberta, the City of Calgary, Tourism Calgary, the National Music Centre, Google Play Music and TD Bank Group.

About CARAS
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences/L'académie canadienne des arts et des sciences de l'enregistrement (CARAS) is a not-for-profit organization created to preserve and enhance the Canadian music industry and to contribute toward higher artistic and industry standards. The main focus of CARAS is the exploration and development of ongoing opportunities to showcase and promote Canadian artists and music through vehicles such as The JUNO Awards and other year-round initiatives. For more information on the 45^th Annual JUNO Awards or The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) please visit www.junoawards.ca.  

About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada's most-watched television network for the past 14 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at CTV.ca.

Web Links:
Official JUNO Awards website: www.junoawards.ca
CTV's JUNO Awards website: www.junos.ctv.ca
JUNO TV: www.junotv.ca
CTV website: www.ctv.ca

Source: Numeris, Overnight vs. Overnight.
Twitter source - Sysomos query of JUNOS-related terms 04/03/16-04/04/16

SOURCE CTV

For more information about THE 2016 JUNO AWARDS, contact: Amanda Rinaldo, 416.384.5325 or [email protected]; Mary Costa, 416.384.7701 or [email protected]