VMAs 2022 ratings up with lift from Nicki Minaj, Johnny Depp, Lizzo, more

nypost.com:

“Ratings, what’s good?”The preliminary Nielsen figures for the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, its pre-show and two on-air replays are in — and both TV and cross-platform consumption ratings are up.

According to the numbers, 3.9 million viewers tuned in to watch Sunday’s festivities across 12 Paramount Global cable channels and the broadcast network The CW — which is a 3% increase from 2021’s programming, which attracted 3.7 million viewers.Paramount says viewers watched 1.59 billion minutes of VMAs content across TV, streaming and social platforms.

That’s a 14% increase from last year’s consumption and the second consecutive year that the stat has gone up. It may come as no surprise — with scandals and drama surrounding the likes of Yung Gravy and Addison Rae, Moon Person Johnny Depp, Artist of the Year Bad Bunny, and butt- and boob-baring Måneskin — that online chatter around the award show is up, too, as this year saw a whopping 79% jump in viewing on social media.

According to analytics firm Talkwalker, the VMAs garnered 40 million social interactions — up from 38 million last year — outperforming the Super Bowl for two years in a row, as well as the March 27 Oscars featuring the infamous Will Smith/Chris Rock slap incident.