The sweet spot for pop music seems to be 11 year old girls, that's about how old I was when I started listening to it (full disclosure: I was not a girl.) I was already an adult when MTV came along, and I liked it quite a lot, and did for a long time. MTV was very influential in its early days, and of course they really ushered in the era of Hip Hop. Because MTV changed with the hope of growing their audience, they've lost their mojo. The VMA awards are mostly about making money for the network (as are ALL network programs) and providing a promotional vehicle for the performers. That's all good, but there's no reason to think anyone much above 30--and that's pushing it--would have any interest in watching it.
