Deal Also Includes Exclusive Airing of Live, Prime Time Special Featuring Nominee Announcements and Performances, and 'The Stellars Tribute to the Holidays'

Contact: Mark Braff, Braff Communications LLC, 201-612-0707

ATLANTA, Oct. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- GMC, America's favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment, announced today that it has signed a renewal agreement with Central City Productions (CCP) to remain the exclusive cable home of gospel music's premier annual event, the Stellar Awards. The agreement encompasses the 2011 Stellar Awards event, as well as GMC's exclusive-to-television airing of the nominations announcement and concert performances, and "The Stellars Tribute to the Holidays," featuring holiday gospel favorites.

The Stellar Awards nominations event and concert will air exclusively on GMC as a live prime-time special from Nashville on Sat., Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. ET. "The Stellars Tribute to the Holidays" will premiere on GMC in late November, and the 2011 Stellar Awards -- the 26th annual -- will air on GMC on Sunday, March 6 at 8 p.m. ET.

"As America's leading destination for gospel music fans, GMC is proud to remain the exclusive cable home for gospel's biggest night," said Leslie Chesloff, GMC's executive vice president, programming. "We are especially pleased to be expanding our coverage with the Stellars holiday special and live prime-time nomination announcements, which in and of itself will be a riveting event with performances by some of gospel's biggest names."

The Stellar Awards ceremony is known for featuring rousing performances and appearances by the world's biggest gospel music stars. At last year's event, Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir (LFC) took home five Stellars, including Artist of the Year, Choir of the Year and Contemporary Choir of the Year. Walker & LFC's album Souled Out was recognized as the CD of the Year and Contemporary CD of the Year.

Other 2010 Stellar Award winners included Donnie McClurkin (Traditional Male of the Year), Smokie Norful (Male Vocalist of the Year and Contemporary Male of the Year), Mary Mary (Song of the Year, Urban/Inspirational Single/Performance of the Year, Group/Duo of the Year and Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year) and Crystal Aikin (New Artist of the Year and Contemporary Female of the Year).

About Central City Productions and The Stellar Awards
The Chicago-based Central City Productions, Inc. (CCP) produces the Stellar Gospel Music Awards, the premier gospel event that recognizes and honors African-American artists. This one-of-a-kind show has showcased top gospel artists as well as many television and film stars. The Stellar Gospel Music Awards show is produced by Barbara Wilson for Central City Productions. Founded in 1970 by Don Jackson, Chicago-based Central City Productions is a producer, syndicator and distributor of original programming on television and cable networks.

About GMC
GMC (www.watchGMCtv.com), the fastest-growing network in television and the number one digital network in perceived value (source: BETA Research), is America's favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment. Recently, The Parents Television Council™ awarded its Entertainment Seal of Approval™ to GMC for being "an authentic family-friendly cable network." GMC is the only television network to receive the highly coveted honor in 2010.

GMC can be seen in nearly 48 million homes on various cable systems around the country, on DIRECTV on channel 338 and on Verizon FiOS on channel 224.