I DO think the ratings would have been higher if the trinity + Justin Bieber were there, I mean, the only other major MTV artists there were 1D, Rih, and Katy, and all 3 of them combined don't match the impact of the 4 above. However, not even that could bring in 6 million more viewers. It being on a Thursday probably deflected a few viewers as well.
I watched the first half of the show and it was just awful, especially Rihanna's performance. Best Rock Video was a sham as usual. Was the 3 Chainz skit really necessary? I thought it was stupid. I'm glad Skrillex and M.I.A. won in the technical categories though.
its a combo of many things:
1. MTV isnt sh!t these days, they dont even play videos yet have a video music awards
2. it was on a Thursday night.
3. no real star power was present
4. no whitney houston tribute
5. Obama was speaking that night
It was aired on a Thursday rather than the usual Sunday, and not a lot of people were aware it was on that night and tuned into the DNC. Next year, I bet they'll return to Sunday. Rihanna and Katy slayed with beauty from the front row, I might add.
I don't think it's necessarily due to the absence of some A-listers, the show on a Thursday didn't help, plus it wasn't even properly announced, I didn't know there was a VMA that Thursday until I saw on Facebook...
It's not because of who was and who wasn't there, they do this **** on a Thursday in September when it's everybody going back to schools and colleges... are they stupid? Clearly. Ratings would have been way higher had they done this on a Sunday night in late August.