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Viewership for the 2023 VMAs on MTV was up 37% from the 2022 awards ceremony.
As fans tuned into the Nicki Minaj-hosted event — and to see if Taylor Swift would beat her own record for most video of the year wins — the ceremony brought in 865,000 total viewers, according the Nielsen fast national data, exceeding last year’s viewership of 630,000.
The event, which also honored the 50th anniversary of the hip hop genre through a star-studded tribute, skyrocketed 77% in ratings among adults 18-49 as it earned a 1.03 score, up from last year’s rating of 0.58.
While the special brought in the highest rating in the 18-49 demo since 2020, the ceremony also scored big among adults 18-34 with a 1.14 rating. Among the 18-34 demographic, the 2023 ceremony grew 118% from last year’s 0.52 rating, marking the VMAs’ highest rating in the demo since 2019.
8 Best Moments of the 2023 VMAs
With the awards ceremony’s boost, MTV drew in its best Tuesday prime average since 2014 among both adults 18-34 and adults 18-49.
Kicking off after the pre-show, which was hosted by Saweetie and featured performances from Sabrina Carpenter and NLE Choppa, the first section of the VMAs saw a dramatic performance from Olivia Rodrigo as she re-created her music video for “Vampire” by prompting catastrophe on stage as set pieces fell down and a staff member ushered the singer off the stage.
The show featured a reunion of NSYNC as the iconic group presented Swift with a moonperson for best pop, prompting the “Anti-Hero” singer to fangirl over their reunion.
In addition to performances from Anitta, Demi Lovato, Doja Cat, Fall Out Boy, Karol G, Kelsea Ballerini, Lil Wayne and Tomorrow X Together, among others, the awards show presented Sean “Diddy” Combs with the Global Icon Award while Shakira accepted the Video Vanguard Award.
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