{"id":174672,"date":"2026-09-28T19:53:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T23:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/?p=174672"},"modified":"2026-09-28T19:59:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T23:59:35","slug":"nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Lead-in, Madonna &#8211; Sabrina &#8211; Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for the Paramount family of networks.<\/p>\n<p>According to Paramount, the broadcast averaged 8.43 million total live+same-day viewers across CBS and MTV. Just over 7.6 million watched via CBS; the balance came from the initial MTV simulcast (686K) and an encore on MTV (142K).<\/p>\n<p>Up 51% in audience from the 2025 edition, it was the most-watched VMAs ceremony since 2015.<\/p>\n<p>The show posted similarly massive gains in all key young adult demographics.<\/p>\n<p>A breakdown of the numbers, however, reveals a disproportionate level of interest in the opening segment. Paramount notes that the opening act drew 15 million total viewers. That opening act would have received the biggest quantitative lift from the NFL lead-in; it also contained a heavily hyped performance by Madonna with special guests Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 15 million American viewers watched the opening segment.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1048],"tags":[275,1951,1577,382,685,3649],"adace-sponsor":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NFL Lead-in, Madonna - Sabrina - Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NFL Lead-in, Madonna - Sabrina - Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Headline Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-28T23:53:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-28T23:59:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madonna-Sabrina-VMAs-Perf-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Cantor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cantorpedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@headlineplanet\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/\",\"name\":\"NFL Lead-in, Madonna - Sabrina - Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-28T23:53:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-28T23:59:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/b530255b81ceb7463ea060a9b8a302c8\"},\"description\":\"Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/\",\"name\":\"Headline Planet\",\"description\":\"Music News &amp; Charts, TV News &amp; Spoilers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/b530255b81ceb7463ea060a9b8a302c8\",\"name\":\"Brian Cantor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5726265e0532f231e46bbddd41009383?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5726265e0532f231e46bbddd41009383?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Cantor\"},\"description\":\"Brian Cantor is the editor-in-chief for Headline Planet. He has been a leading reporter in the music, movie, television and sporting spaces since 2002. Brian's reporting has been cited by major websites like BuzzFeed, Billboard, the New Yorker and The Fader -- and shared by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. Contact Brian at brian.cantor[at]headlineplanet.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantorpedia\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/author\/cantortainment\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NFL Lead-in, Madonna - Sabrina - Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015","description":"Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NFL Lead-in, Madonna - Sabrina - Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015","og_description":"Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for","og_url":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/","og_site_name":"Headline Planet","article_published_time":"2026-09-28T23:53:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-28T23:59:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madonna-Sabrina-VMAs-Perf-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brian Cantor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cantorpedia","twitter_site":"@headlineplanet","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/","url":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/","name":"NFL Lead-in, Madonna - Sabrina - Charli Performance Propel MTV Video Music Awards To Best Ratings Since 2015","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-09-28T23:53:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-28T23:59:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/b530255b81ceb7463ea060a9b8a302c8"},"description":"Airing directly out of a down-to-the-wire NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, the MTV Video Music Awards delivered big numbers for","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/2026\/09\/28\/nfl-lead-in-madonna-sabrina-charli-performance-propel-mtv-video-music-awards-to-best-ratings-since-2015\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#website","url":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/","name":"Headline Planet","description":"Music News &amp; Charts, TV News &amp; Spoilers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/b530255b81ceb7463ea060a9b8a302c8","name":"Brian Cantor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5726265e0532f231e46bbddd41009383?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5726265e0532f231e46bbddd41009383?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Cantor"},"description":"Brian Cantor is the editor-in-chief for Headline Planet. He has been a leading reporter in the music, movie, television and sporting spaces since 2002. Brian's reporting has been cited by major websites like BuzzFeed, Billboard, the New Yorker and The Fader -- and shared by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. Contact Brian at brian.cantor[at]headlineplanet.com.","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantorpedia"],"url":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/author\/cantortainment\/"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"More than 15 million American viewers watched the opening segment.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174672"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174677,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174672\/revisions\/174677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174672"},{"taxonomy":"adace-sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headlineplanet.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adace-sponsor?post=174672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}