Last night, MTV lost half of the viewers they had from the previous year’s Video Music Awards. The 2012 MTV VMAs were still the top show on cable with 6.1 million viewers and a 2.8 Nielsen rating. However, 2011’s award show set records with a ridiculous 12.4 million viewers and a 6.2 rating. This year’s Kevin Hart hosted edition broadcasted live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but despite performers like Rihanna, Frank Ocean and Lil Wayne, there were plenty of factors that led to its drastic dip in audience.
For starters, last year’s VMAs were held on a weekend, Sunday to be specific. Also, the show started an hour earlier than usual at 8pm so as not to conflict with Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC that started at about 10pm.
To put it in perspective, as Vulture reports, the 2012 BET Awards in June did better than the MTV VMAs, claiming 7.4 million viewers in June. Both MTV and BET are owned by Viacom. Full list of winners below.
Video of the Year: Rihanna, “We Found Love”
Best New Artist: One Direction
Best Female Video: Nicki Minaj, “Starships”
Best Male Video: Chris Brown, “Turn Up The Music”
Video With a Message: Demi Lovato, “Skyscraper”
Best Hip-Hop Video: Drake feat. Lil Wayne, “HYFR”
Best Rock Video: Coldplay, “Paradise”
Best Pop Video: One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Electronic Dance Music Video: Calvin Harris, “Feel So Close”
Most Share-Worthy Video: One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
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Photo: MTV
