The long-standing MTV Video Music Awards has made a major switch, as it will now be broadcast on CBS for the first time in 2025. In years prior, the program aired on MTV and all of its partnering cable channels. However, that is no longer the case, as the awards program announced today, Thursday, April 3, that they will be officially switching over to CBS for their 2025 show.
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Last year, the Video Music Awards aired on 13 different networks, including Comedy Central, BET, CMT, VH1, Univision, and several other cable channels. Furthermore, last year’s broadcast of the show marked the biggest multi-network audience in the last four years. According to MTV, the broadcast garnered a total of 66.7 million social interactions and 4.08 million viewers with the original broadcast, as well as the two encore ones, per Variety.
With all that in mind, why has MTV decided to take the beloved Video Music Awards show elsewhere? Also, will the awards show being on CBS change the layout and culture of the show?
Inside MTV’s Switch to CBS
Many details regarding the switch are still in the dark. However, the switch is fairly on par with another awards show, the CMT Music Awards. In 2024, the CMT Music Awards aired live on CBS for the first time ever. Before that, the CMT Music Awards were always broadcast on their own channel, CMT.
According to CBS’ announcement, MTV’s network channel(owned by Paramount) will also host the Video Music Awards. However, those will be the only two cable networks where one can watch MTV’s biggest night live. Concerning streaming, one can watch the event live on Paramount+. Given that we are still a couple of months out from the night, hosts, announcers, and nominees are, of course, still undecided.
The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards will be executive produced by Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic, and co-produced by Barb Bialkowski. The show will transpire on September 7, 2025, at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, from 8-11 p.m. ET. Time will tell what changes CBS will make to the staple MTV Video Music Awards. The anticipation is surely brewing.
Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV
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