NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

TV viewership for Video Music Awards continues to decline

NEW YORK

If Taylor Swift, Missy Elliot and a 1990s rap reunion couldn’t halt the shrinkage of MTV’s television audience for its Video Music Awards, perhaps nothing can.

The show was seen by 4.9 million viewers live Monday across 12 different Viacom-owned networks, the Nielsen company said. That’s down from last year’s audience of 5.2 million, as the annual event has slid in television viewers each year since reaching 10.3 million in 2014.

For the week of Aug. 19-25, the top five shows, their networks and viewerships: “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 9.43 million; “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 8.12 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.07 million; NFL Exhibition Football: Pittsburgh at Tennessee, NBC, 6.24 million; College Football: Miami at Florida, ESPN, 5.97 million.

Associated Press