CHICAGO, IL. (Museum of Broadcast Communications) - Veteran television producer-director Al Schwartz has donated his collection of American Music Awards shows to The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. The collection will be accessible to the public in the archives of the new $21-million media museum that will be completed in 2006.

"The American Music Awards are always one of television's highest rated awards shows because of the top-tier talent that performs and because of the quickness of the production. We are pleased to accept this remarkable collection of music television to our collection," said Bruce DuMont, MBC Founder and President.

The American Music Awards were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to honor achievements in popular music and the recording business. The awards salute the entire spectrum of music, from country-western to soul as well as hard rock, and traditional.
Al Schwartz, a former Executive Vice President of Dick Clark Productions, has produced and directed 30 of the 33 broadcasts to date.

The first of these AMA pyramid-shaped, crystal trophies went to singer Roberta Flack in 1973, and since then more than thirty awards have been given out each year, based on a poll of 20,000 record buyers. With seventeen, Kenny Rogers has won the most awards.

The American Music Awards show is broadcast live on network TV each year. It attracts the biggest names in the music business, who appear live on stage as performers, presenters, recipients, and/or hosts. This show isn"t really about awards so much as it is about musical performances (acceptance speeches are limited to 45 seconds). Hosts for the annual show have included Elton John, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Glen Campbell, Sean "P" Diddy and Natalie Cole.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is one of only three broadcast museums in the United States. Its new 70,000-square-foot facility will enable the museum to accommodate an increased number of school groups and extend its educational outreach. The new facility will include exhibition galleries detailing radio and television history in America, including specific exhibits on Comedy, Drama and Music as well as six other genres. It will also include a media-equipped education center for orientation and teaching, a 500-seat center for screenings and lectures, a gift shop and cafi, and working television and radio studios.

The new MBC at State Street and Kinzie in downtown Chicago will be located right next door to the famed House of Blues. For more information, please visit http://www.Museum.TV