VMA ratings: Biggest MTV audience ever

Lady Gaga is going to have to host the show next year to top this. MTV’s annual Video Music Awards just scored its biggest audience ever last night — 12.4 million viewers.

Not only are those record-setting numbers for the VMAs, but last night’s show was also the most-watched single telecast in MTV’s history. The viewership is up 9 percent from last year’s show and stands as the most-watched non-sports cable telecast of the year (VMA winners and losers here).

UPDATE: Jersey Shore, which served as a lead in (recap here), netted a good — but not record setting — 8 million viewers. The pilot preview of I Want My Pants Back (exclusive trailer here) landed 5.1 million viewers after the show — though quite a drop off from the VMAs, that’s still a strong sampling for MTV, especially for a scripted show. The comedy is set to debut Jan. 2012.

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