MTV Movie Awards brings TV into the fold

The MTV Movie Awards has rebranded after 25 years and will include TV for the first time, officially changing its name to the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

The event will be broadcast live across a number of Viacom platforms from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on May 7, including Screenings in Australia.

MTV President Chris McCarthy said, “We’re living in a golden age of content, and great storytelling and characters resonate regardless of whether you’re watching it in a theater or on TV.

“The new MTV Movie & TV Awards will celebrate even more of the brightest, bravest, funniest and most shared films and TV shows resonating across youth culture.”

The young glamsters of the small screen will also vie for categories including best kiss, best villain and best shirtless performance.

On the day, fans will be treated with live gigs, special guests and food outside the venue, as part of a new Movie & Television Festival street party.

Last year, the Critics Choice Awards also merged their movie and TV categories. The Golden Globes, People’s Choice Awards and AFI Awards also run both mediums together.

In 2016, the MTV Movie awards aired in the US on Sunday April 20, co-hosted by Wayne “The Rock” Johnson and comedian Kevin Hart.

They drew a combined audience of 3.5 million viewers over nine platforms including MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, BET, MTV2, CMT and Classic, up 52% on the previous year when it screened on four platforms.

Streaming of the event was up 136% to 46 million streams, while 408,000 tweets posted about the show were up 174.4%. Instagram postings jumped 24.7% and Facebook activity rose 23.8%.

In Australia, the live broadcast drew 16,105 metro viewers, a leap of 51%, while the first of the evening screenings rose 4% to 11,147.