Viewers give VMAs the kiss-off

Despite a kissy Madonna, ratings for MTV’s annual Video
Music Awards took a dip Thursday.

Nielsen household ratings were pretty stable, 8.1 versus 8.3 last year.

But in MTV’s core 12-34 demo viewership fell 11% to 9.9 million from 11.1
million.

The highlight of the show was the opening number featuring, among other
things, Madonna planting open-mouthed kisses on Britney Spears and Christina
Aguilera.