YTMA fail?

YOUTUBE, MUTED: Hey, man, did you catch the YouTube Music Awards? Well, don't beat yourself up—hardly anyone did, at least as far as the live show is concerned. Various reports have viewership of Sunday's webcast at between 180k-218k, despite the presence of several superstar acts. That's something like 0.1% of the site's monthly users, according to estimates. For context, this compilation of "cute cats looking guilty," posted on 10/13, has earned more than 1.3 million views. Of course, YouTube's defenders argue that with some 60 million votes cast for the awards, the true viewership numbers should be tabulated differently, reflecting the different ways its audience watches content. No doubt the number of "impressions" represented by social-media activity related to the YTMAs will look large, and clips from the show will undoubtedly rack up bigger numbers over time. But with so few people tuning into the actual show, as the L.A. Times observed, "YouTube may break viral videos, but unless it tries harder next time it may not be able to break itself." (11/4p)