Viewers give VMAs the kiss-off

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

Nielsen Media Research 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.