Posted on 09/02/2006 11:26:46 PM PDT by Milhous
The downward spiral of the MTV Video Music Awards' TV performance continued Thursday night as the ceremony's audience plunged from last year and VMA fans headed online.
The show, once a ratings juggernaut for MTV, pulled in an average of just 5.77 million total viewers over its three hour telecast starting at 8 p.m., down 28% from the 8 million viewers it averaged last year, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. Just two years ago, the show brought in nearly double last night's audience-10.3 million viewers.
While still about five times what MTV has averaged in primetime this summer, the show's TV audience last night is a shadow of the 12 million viewers it once earned. The numbers have to be frustrating for MTV executives who moved the show back to its former home, New York City, after last year's poor showing in Miami.
With digital media, including video-heavy Internet sites, competing for its core young audience, MTV has struggled to maintain its status as the coolest place for youth. Last night's show was widely criticized for being dull and lacking the sort of buzz-worthy moments of VMAs past.
The show averaged a 5.21 share with MTV's target audience of viewers 12-34, the network says. Illustrating that that audience is preferring to spend time online these days, MTV's broadband video site Overdrive saw its highest day of traffic ever yesterday with 3.9 million streams, up more than 200% over last year. MTV programmed the site, as well as its digital cable channels and other multimedia platforms, with more VMA extras than ever this year.
I feel like such a dinosaur. I'm old enough to remember when MTV showed videos. That's old!
Not surprising. MTV is just an alternative to BET. Rock music need not apply.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se1pK0--Mr4
I don't want my MTV.
After watching the video I think his participation contributed to the perception that liberalism is very much an old peoples thing.
Old is not recognizing any act or "personality" there.
Not quite fair - this show's already being derided for being too (c)rap niche and just plain unentertaining. If that scamp Jack Black couldn't carry it off it just sucked.
Weegee, just wanted to know if MTV's Movie Awards show is the only thing they have left worth looking at. Lord knows if they might do something really radical like showing music videos.
Its basically the same show and variety that they had running 10 years ago. The problem here is that alot of MTV fans have grown up and moved on....and their variety of "hot" music...isn't really selling. There are alot of European stars that are really pulling in numbers within both the UK and Germany...and could easily walk into the US and take control of a vast audience. Country and western music is booming today. You've got alot of the oldies out there who are still claim a big audience. I just don't see much improving for MTV over the next five years. Rap doesn't interest 80 percent of America...and even amongst teenagers....its a limited audience in 90 percent of America. You can't find a single station in Alaska that plays Rap. In the state of Mississippi....there might be one station that occassionally plays it. MTV has banked on a dead-end street.
Al Gore lecture on global warming - a sure way to put the crowd to sleep. Snore....
MTV these days is just another channel on the dial.
"I have Al Gore's (BARF) speech from the show right here:"
Therein lies the irony, that Al Gore tried to shut MTV down with his wife with the PMRC in the 80's, now he's all kissy kissy with them, and they give him airtime. He's the perfect spokesperson for MTV - utterly corrupt, full of himself, dangerously stupid, and utlimately irrelevant.
Rock went back underground where it belongs, it'll be back some day, but it's not dangerous anymore. It will be again, in the meantime, something else will break big, like has happened before, the key here is if MTV will catch the wave, or sink because their big label buddies have a complete lock on what they can and can't play.
No big loss. MTV became background noise for most people 5-7 years ago.
I'd hate to be the person in charge of buying advertising tomorrow, those numbers are gonna HURT, advertisers just got a huge message that MYV can't sell their products anymore, not to the numbers they used to. Look for layoffs at MTV over the next 6 months.
" Just judging by the cheers."
When I watched his speech, his applause at the money shot near the end seemed flat.
Actually there are the faintest glimerings of hope that MTV music may be on the verge of reversing from gangland back into actual music territory again.
Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" number which has done very well is good old soul. KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" is a from a singer who can write her own music, play her own instrument, came up through the coffee house route, and sells the number on the basis of the music, not by skank appeal. Pink's "Stupid Girls" video very effectively mocks every Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan/Britany Spears ignorant slut stereotype MTV has been selling for years.
These are still the exceptions but just maybe the suits at MTV are becoming desperate enough to recognize the corner they have painted themselves into.
I truly got the feeling that it was a mistake to put him and his message there.
If this liberalism thing takes on a nagging, parental tone then it dies among the young.
As natural as the mix of liberalism and youth is, I think that the old dinosaurs of the left are helping to dampen the relationship.
You may be right. I sort of agree... Conservatives don't nag, we just GUIDE.
I have always wondered who watched all those garbage award shows. They're boring as hell.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.