Even though MTV strategically scheduled Beyonce’s Vanguard Award performance for the end of the 2014 Video Music Awards Sunday night, the show still took a hit in the ratings. The show’s initial viewership was down from last year, which was helped by Miley Cyrus’ outrageous twerking exhibition.
The VMAs drew 8.3 million viewers during its initial broadcast, which began at 9 p.m. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the broadcast earned a 6.7 rating in MTV’s target demographic, 12- to 34-year-olds.
MTV did air the show on Vh1, MTV2 and Logo TV simultaneously, so all 9 p.m. broadcasts totalled 10.3 million viewers, Deadline points out. The awards were also repeated throughout the night, so 13.7 million people tuned in Sunday night in total.
Last year’s VMAs drew 10.1 million viewers and featured Cyrus’ now-infamous performance that introduced a new version of herself to the world. Although Cyrus won Video of the Year for “Wrecking Ball,” she did not perform. Instead, Cyrus made headlines by having a homeless teen accept her award.
The most-watched VMAs in history was the 2011 show, which was watched by 12.4 million viewers.
You can check out the full list of winners here.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com