VMAs Crash-Course in Star Power: How the Switch to CBS Sparked a Ratings Tsunami That Even Mercury Retrograde Couldn’t Stop
Added on September 8, 2025 inTV News Cards
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Ever wonder what happens when the cosmic forces of Virgo precision meet the showbiz sparkle of the MTV Video Music Awards? Well, turns out, moving the VMAs to CBS was like Mercury doing a perfect sextile with Jupiter — everything just clicked, baby! The switch to a network with a reach wider than the Milky Way (or at least 125 million American homes) sent the audience numbers soaring by a whopping 42 percent, hitting the highest viewership in six years. It seems celebs and viewers alike couldn’t resist the gravitational pull of Lady Gaga’s star power or the magnetic charm of host LL Cool J, who’s basically the Gemini of entertainment, juggling TV roles and rap accolades with ease. Meanwhile, the show faced off against a nail-biting Sunday Night Football game — talk about a cosmic clash of titans! So, if you’re curious how this celestial mashup turned into a ratings bonanza, buckle up and dive in. LEARN MORE
The audience for the MTV Video Music Awards, unsurprisingly, spiked with a move to CBS.
The broadcast network, airing the awards for the first time, fueled a 42 percent increase in viewers for the VMAs. Sunday’s show, which also aired on MTV and streamed on Paramount+, delivered 5.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s earliest-available numbers (that include out-of-home viewing). That’s the most for the show in six years.
The 2024 telecast, including the pre-show and encore airings, averaged 4.09 million viewers on MTV and 11 other Paramount cable outlets. (The directly comparable number here is 3.91 million viewers, according to Paramount; final adjustments for the ‘25 telecast to follow.) CBS has a much wider reach than MTV does, as it’s available (at least in theory) to anyone with a TV — some 125 million homes in the United States — and means to capture the broadcast signal. MTV, by contrast, is available in only about half as many households.
The 2025 Video Music Awards were the most-watched entertainment special on CBS since Feb. 2’s Grammy Awards.
Last night’s VMAs had some serious competition from an all-time great Sunday Night Football game on NBC. The close out the NFL’s opening weekend of 2025, the Buffalo Bills came from behind to defeat the Baltimore Ravens as time expired. Buffalo erased a 15-point deficit in the final 4:05, winning 41-40 at home.
Lady Gaga won the award for artist of the year along with three other awards Sunday. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each took home three honors; Grande’s “Brighter Days Ahead” won video of the year, and Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet took album of the year.
The 2025 VMAs were hosted by LL Cool J, who has quite a history with CBS and its sister cable channels, which were formerly (twice) under the Viacom umbrella. LL was a cast member on CBS series NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: Hawaiʻi, and he hosted Lip Sync Battle on Paramount Network. As a rapper, he was a staple on MTV and was named among VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time” list.
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