On Monday night, the MTV Video Music Awards attempted to appeal to the growing Hispanic demographic in the U.S.
MTV tapped Hispanic rapper Cardi B to open the 2018 Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Monday night.
But the show’s TV ratings fell far short of 2017’s previous record-low audience.
Puerto Rican superstar Jennifer Lopez was honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, while Latina singer Camila Cabello won Artist of the Year and Video of the Year awards for her single “Havana”.
Other Hispanic stars were paraded down the pink carpet, but MTV, which hasn’t played music videos in years, drew record low ratings for the 2nd year in a row.
According to Hollywoodreporter.com:
“Monday’s show drew 2.25 million viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. Across eight Viacom-owned channels, it drew 4.87 million viewers and a 2.2 in the demo; both sets of numbers fall short of the 2017 VMAs, which set the previous low.”
The VMAs suffered deep declines among its core 18-34 teens and young adults demographic and viewership was down 15 percent among adults 18-49.
Some observers blamed the record low ratings on liberal celebrities injecting politics into the awards show.
“Everything that used to be entertainment has now become an activist shout and scream fest. Who wants to watch that?” wrote one commenter on Hollywoodreporter.com.
Photos by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Andrew Toth/Getty Images
