The MTV Video Music Awards Ratings Dropped 50% From 2011

By On 09/07/2012 · 13 Comments · In Ratings

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The VMA’s dropped about half of their audience from last year’s record 12.4 million audience. 6.1 viewers tuned in to the broadcast. The VMA’s drew a 5.3 rating in the network’s target 12-34 demo.

There are a few good reasons why the numbers are down this year. The VMA’s usually broadcast on a Sunday. The move to Thursday put it in contention with President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. With only 2 days notice, MTV announced that the show would move up one hour to 8 pm, instead of it’s usual (and cooler) 9 pm starting time, in order to avoid a conflict.

Year to year, the VMAs were down more than 50 percent in total viewers.

Prior to this year’s broadcast, the VMAs had been rising every year, jumping to its largest audience in a decade in 2010.

I expect MTV will move the ceremony back to Sundays for 2013.

Via The Hollywood Reporter

 
  • TheGreatXL

    They better move it back to Sunday. They bumped my Awkward. for it. Best comedy on television!

  • quickjessie

    You forgot one reason – the show is a load of crapola. 

     

  • http://twitter.com/50watts Ronald Watts

    Good, next year another 50% and I wont have to hear about this carp of an award show ever again.

  • http://twitter.com/doesmonaknow DoesMonaKnow

    They’ll be sure to move it back to Sunday and book Gaga, Beyonce, Adele (if she’s come out of seclusion by then) and more. The VMAs have been put on since 1984, they’ve survived MTV moving away from videos, they aren’t going down without a fight.

  • wkstrack

    Well, also MTV hardly plays music videos anymore no wonder the VMAs  are down in ratings. I saw it last night and it was pretty boring. The performances were lackluster too. Frank Ocean was kinda a disappointment. Meh. The host was good for once. NO Russell brand! The network now is mostly reality shows and scripted shows catered to the teen audience. Teen Wolf is good though lol

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/XDQP2Y46M5B3OHOKALDDGDHQCM Leandro

    The drop should be much bigger. MTV is doing an Awards about something called “music video”, something that hasn’t been seen on MTV for years. They should really consider to change the name for RTV, Reality Television, since they’ve been specializing themselves in doing crap reality tv shows.

  • callmecrazy

    The show last night was a yawnfest.  Moreso when Taylor closed it out with that horrific song and that horrific performance…I’ve still got cats and dogs scratching at my back door over that noise!

  • http://twitter.com/livsim Ivan

    Gaga wasn’t there.

  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    There was just too much going on last night.  I watch every year, but there is a certain genre I have no interest in what so ever.  It’s not the show it use to be.

  • whoisthatwoman

    Doesn’t matter which night it is on…wouldn’t watch anyway.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Wui-Zhuan-Lim/777616348 Wui Zhuan Lim

    Haha TAYLOR SWIFT
    No one likes your NEVER EVER EVER STUPID SONG

  • http://twitter.com/LindsayKempFan Not fit to print

    I am sure the move to Thursday and Barack Obama’s speech hurt a bit but a 50% drop is huge. Hard to recover from that. Will the stars show up if MTV doesn’t play their music videos during the year and can’t produce ratings for a showcase TV event? Good luck on getting decent advertising dollars next year.

    Just another nail in the big bucks music industry coffin.

  • lavenderpixie

    I honestly wanted to tune in, but it passed me by. Was expecting it to be on Sunday like always!