2025 VMAs Delivers Its Largest TV Audience in Six Years

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The assemblage was up 42% from past year.

LL Cool J attends the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards astatine UBS Arena connected September 07, 2025 successful Elmont, New York.

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards was the top-rated amusement programme of the night, hitting a six-year viewership high. The amusement was seen by much than 5.5 cardinal viewers, betwixt its broadcast connected CBS, simulcast connected MTV and streaming connected Paramount+.

This marked the archetypal clip the VMAs person aired connected CBS, which could usage a large popular euphony franchise. CBS volition suffer the Grammy Awards, which it has aired since 1973, aft the upcoming 68th Grammy Awards telecast connected Feb. 1. (In October 2024, The Recording Academy announced a caller 10-year planetary deal for The Grammys to beryllium exclusively simulcast connected ABC, Hulu and Disney+ opening successful 2027.)

LL COOL J hosted past night’s VMAs. He antecedently co-hosted the amusement successful 2022. (He besides hosted the Grammys 5 times from 2012-16.)

Here are selected ratings highlights astir the 2025 VMAs:

Watched by much than 5.5 cardinal viewers, making it the night’s No. 1 amusement program. The amusement competed with the Sunday Night Football time-period premiere (Raven vs. Bills) and finished 2nd wide successful its clip period.
Most-watched day-of-event VMAs since the 2019 show, which was hosted by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco (the past clip a comedian hosted the show). That was besides the past pre-pandemic show. The pandemic was disruptive to TV viewing habits.
Audience was up 42% from past year’s airing connected MTV and simulcast connected different Paramount networks (3.91m). Last year’s amusement was hosted by Megan Thee Stallion.
Most-watched amusement peculiar connected CBS since the Grammy Awards connected Feb. 2.
Third-largest live-streamed amusement lawsuit this twelvemonth connected Paramount+, down lone the Grammy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards (which aired connected Jan. 11).
The VMAs’ voting run saw the champion turnout successful history, with 2.5 cardinal planetary votes, up 121% from past twelvemonth (Source: Internal information via Telescope, 08/05/25-09/05/25).

On societal media, the 2025 MTV VMAs acceptable caller records arsenic the astir viewed and astir engaged VMAs successful history.

1 cardinal planetary video views, up 21% and 81.1 cardinal engagements, up 6% from past twelvemonth crossed owned societal media accounts (Source: Sprinklr, 07/27/25-09/08/25).
#VMAs trended astatine No. 1 connected X successful the U.S. for 3 consecutive hours and successful the apical 10 for 9 hours.
Globally, #VMA held the No. 1 worldwide trending spot connected X for 4 consecutive hours, trended No. 1 successful 12 countries (Source: Trends24, Getdaytrends, 09/07/25).

Ratings Source: Nielsen Time Adjusted Live+SD Fast National Data including Out-of-Home Viewing

Critics mostly praised the show. Billboard’s Joe Lynch wrote: “Hosted by LL COOL J, the 2025 Read Entire Article