2016 MTV Video Music Awards


The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 28, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Adele's "Hello" was the most nominated video with seven categories. This marked the 33rd edition of the live broadcast. Beyoncé led the nominations with a total of eleven, followed by Adele, who had eight. Rihanna received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award after performing several medley numbers during the ceremony. Britney Spears marked her first performance at the awards show since the heavily criticized 2007 show nine years prior. Beyoncé won eight awards to bring her career total of wins to 26 VMAs, overtaking Madonna's previous record of 20 awards, making her the artist with the most wins in the history of the award show.
The ceremony was shown on multiple Viacom cable networks and through smart TV and mobile devices which allow access to MTV's TV Everywhere-authenticated live stream within their app, along with MTV's website and Facebook Live.
Compared to the previous year's show which had a lesser amount of Viacom networks simulcasting the ceremony, the 2016 ceremony's numbers showed a 35% drop across the measured networks carrying the ceremony, making it the lowest rated ceremony in MTV's 32-year history beating out 1996 and 2015, totalling a cumulative 6.5 million viewers, though the network also claimed substantial additional streaming viewership across MTV apps and Facebook Live. 3.3 million viewers saw the show via MTV.

Performances

Presenters

Pre-show

In addition, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele provided commentary throughout the show from a luxury box as characters @LizardSheeple and @TheShamester. DJ Khaled, Nicole Byer, and Jay Pharoah also provided insight and commentary throughout the broadcast.

Winners and nominees

This year's nominees were presented on July 26, 2016, on MTV's Facebook page live.
Winners are highlighted in Bold

Video of the Year

Beyoncé — "Formation"
Calvin Harris — "This Is What You Came For"
Beyoncé — "Hold Up"
DNCE
Beyoncé — "Formation"
Twenty One Pilots — "Heathens"
Drake — "Hotline Bling"
Calvin Harris and Disciples — "How Deep Is Your Love"
Fifth Harmony — "Work from Home"
Beyoncé — Lemonade
Beyoncé — "Formation"
Beyoncé — "Formation"
Coldplay — "Up&Up"
David Bowie — "Blackstar"
Beyoncé — "Formation"
Beyoncé — "Formation"
Fifth Harmony — "All in My Head "
Rihanna