CARRIE UNDERWOOD TO LEAVE VH1 VIEWERS "BLOWN AWAY" THIS FALL WITH BRAND NEW EPISODES OF "UNPLUGGED" AND "BEHIND THE MUSIC"

New York, NY, August 15, 2012 - Five-time Grammy-Award winning music superstar Carrie Underwood announced this morning on VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live that she will take the stage for the Grammy(R) and Emmy(R) award-winning series, "VH1 Presents: Carrie Underwood Unplugged" premiering October 2 at 4pm ET on VH1.com and 7pm ET on VH1 and share the story of her meteoric rise to fame on VH1's iconic series, "Behind the Music: Carrie Underwood," premiering this fall.

"We're honored to be welcoming Carrie Underwood - one of music's most successful, dynamic and original talents - to our venerable 'Unplugged' and 'Behind the Music' franchises," said Rick Krim, VH1 Executive Vice President of Talent & Music Programming. "Our audience expects great music and authentic storytelling, and we believe Carrie offers those in spades," he continued.

VH1 Presents: Carrie Underwood Unplugged" will debut on Tuesday, October 2 at 4pm ET on VH1.com and 7pm ET on VH1 and feature songs from her smash album "Blown Away" and past music.. The episode will repeat on Palladia on Friday, October 5 at 9pm ET. The Grammy(R) and Emmy(R) award-winning series, "Unplugged," is now back for the 2012 season with State Farm(R) serving as exclusive digital sponsor. "VH1 Unplugged" is a production of Original Media, LLC. Jeff Baumgardner and Lee Rolontz serve as Executive Producers for VH1. Rick Krim serves as Executive Vice President, Music & Talent and Roulie Zouzias serves as Senior Director, Music & Talent, both for VH1. The series was created by Robert Small and Jim Burns.

Carrie Underwood will be profiled as part of VH1's five-time Emmy-nominated documentary series "Behind The Music" this fall as the series returns with an all-new lineup of some of today's most influential and fascinating artists. The series mixes dramatic storytelling with intimate interviews and firsthand accounts directly from the artists. The series debuted on VH1 in August of 1997 and was originally created and produced for VH1 by Gay Rosenthal, George Moll and Jeff Gaspin who were responsible for many of the channels 200+ episodes of the series. The current series is executive produced by Shelly Tatro, Brad Abramson, Stephen Mintz and Jeff Olde for VH1. Executives in charge of music talent are Rick Krim and Leah Horwitz. The Brandy, Akon and Snoop Dogg episodes were executive produced by Mark Ford for Creature Films.

"VH1 Unplugged: Carrie Underwood" and "Behind The Music: Carrie Underwood" will both be available on VH1.com the morning after their on-air premieres. VH1.com will also be home to extended interviews and footage from each episode. Follow @VH1 on Twitter and use hashtags #VH1Unplugged and #BehindTheMusic to discuss the series. "Like" VH1 on Facebook for updates, bonus video and other exclusives!

Carrie's Blown Away album made history this spring by debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart making Carrie only the second country artist in the 47 year history of the chart to have each of their first four albums debut at No. 1. Blown Away also debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart making Carrie only the second country artist in history to have three consecutive albums debut at No. 1. Blown Away became country's best-selling digital album debut since 2010. "Good Girl," her first single from Blown Away, has already achieved the No. 1 slot on both Billboard and Country Aircheck's country airplay charts and became her 15th career No. 1 single.

Since releasing Some Hearts in 2005, Carrie has sold more than 15 million albums with Some Hearts, 2007's Carnival Ride, and 2009's Play On making her the best-selling American Idol in the U.S. She's accumulated 15 No. 1 singles, seven of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums. She is a five-time Grammy winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.

About VH1

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 99 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, and extensive video on VH1.com. VH1 is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.