The 2011 Video Music Awards scored the biggest audience
in MTV history Sunday night with 12.4 million total viewers tuning into the
annual awards show.
The telecast, which saw Katy Perry and Adele top the
award winners and Beyonce confirm her pregnancy onstage, was also the
most-watched in the network's target of persons 12-34, delivering 8.5 million
viewers and a 10.8 rating in the demo, according to Nielsen.
Overall, the VMAs rose 9% with total viewers and 8% in
the P12-34 demo versus the 2010 telecast.
The VMA Pre-Show was also the best on record with P12-34
and total viewers, attracting 5.2 million viewers in the demo, up 13%, and 7.3
million total viewers, up 16%.
The interest was shown online too, as MTV Digital had its
highest VMA day ever on Sunday, attracting two million unique visitors, up 33%
over last year. Sunday's more than 10 million page views represented an 18%
increase year-over-year.
MTV used a special Sunday episode of reality hit Jersey
Shore to lead into the VMAs, which drew 8 million total viewers and 5.9 million viewers in the 12-34 demo.
