The 2025 MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards), which took place on September 7, 2025, at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, have proven to be a successful event with its viewership reports showing a two-fold increase since last year.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the award function’s move to CBS resulted in a 42% increase in viewership. Nielsen’s numbers that include out-of-home viewing statistics mention that the Video Music Awards garnered 5.5 million viewers via CBS, MTV, and Paramount+. This viewership statistic is the most for the event in six years.
As per the publication, the 2024 MTV VMAs averaged 4.09 million viewers, counting the encore and pre-show airings distributed across MTV and 11 Paramount cable networks. It is also reported that one of the primary reasons behind the increase in viewership this year is CBS’ wider reach as compared to MTV.
Anyone with a TV in at least 125 million homes in the United States has access to CBS. On the other hand, MTV is available in half the households where CBS is accessible.
More details about the 2025 MTV VMAs explored amid surge in viewership
The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards were hosted by Hey Lover rapper LL Cool J and featured performances by Ricky Martin, Sabrina Carpenter, and Mariah Carey, among others.
One of the key highlights of the VMAs was an ode to late Ozzy Osbourne. The former Black Sabbath frontman passed away in July 2025. The tribute to Ozzy featured a video message from his son, Jack, and his children. Additionally, Yungblud joined Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to perform a medley of Ozzy’s hit songs like Mama, I’m Coming Home, Changes, and Crazy Train.
Additionally, Lady Gaga became the recipient of four “Moon Person” trophies at the Video Music Awards, increasing her career total to 22. The singer’s achievements at the 2025 award event placed her in third place on the all-time MTV VMAs ranking list, behind Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, who each have 30 “Moon Person” trophies.
Gaga won in the categories of best direction for Abracadabra, best collaboration for Die With A Smile alongside Bruno Mars, ‘Artist of the Year’, and ‘Song of the Year’ for Die With A Smile. Shortly after collecting her award, the cameras followed Lady Gaga across New York to her live concert at Madison Square Garden, where she performed her latest track The Dead Dance from Netflix’s Wednesday season 2.
Moreover, the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards honored Ricky Martin, Busta Rhymes, and Mariah Carey. Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin received the inaugural Latin Icon Award. Additionally, Mariah Carey was honored with the Video Vanguard Award, and Busta Rhymes received the Rock the Bells Visionary Award.
Rosé of BLACKPINK became the first K-pop artist to win Song of the Year at VMAs for her superhit song Apt. made in collaboration with Bruno Mars.
Furthermore, Ariana Grande expressed gratitude to her “therapists and gay people” in her acceptance speech for the ‘Best Pop Music Video’ category. Additionally, Sabrina Carpenter’s performance of Tears featured trans dancers and drag queens. Her performance featured signs with slogans like “protect the dolls” and “in trans we trust.”
2025 marked the first year that the MTV VMAs aired on CBS, and the recently presented numbers highlighting a successful switch to the broadcasting network have opened doors to a long-term tie-up.
alt=”Divya Singh Rana” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Niharika Dabral
