ROSWELL, Georgia – After a series of poor live programming decisions by MTV, such as the Live 8 debacle, the 2004 MTV Movie Awards and Video Music Awards, and the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show, the cable network seems to be headed back on the right track for the upcoming Video Music Awards.

For the second straight year the show will be on a Sunday at the American Airlines Arena after having been held on Thursdays for the past several years in either New York or Los Angeles at various locations, including Radio City Music Hall, New York’s Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center and the Universal Amphitheatre.

Known for superior staging for large-scale concert events, MTV’s first attempt at an arena was poorly timed – coinciding with the Closing Ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Athens – and poorly executed with the subpar efforts of director Louis J. Horvitz, who has notably directed the Emmys and Oscars. This year, the network has passed over Horvitz, who also directed the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, despite the fact that he has worked with VMA host Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, directing Combs’ HBO series, The Bad Boys of Comedy.

MTV has returned the reins of the VMAs to veteran director Beth McCarthy Miller, who directs Saturday Night Live and directed the Video Music Awards from 1996-1999, 2001-2003. McCarthy Miller began her career with MTV in the mid-1980′s, rising to the position of senior director before leaving to direct The Jon Stewart Show and, ultimately, SNL. Although she was the director for the infamous Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show, she effectively broke the mold for halftime shows with the Super Bowl XXXV Halftime Show. Despite a relatively weak season for SNL, McCarthy Miller rarely faultered in the area for which she is best known and most accomplished: live music.

For the show’s 30th season, she directed performances by U2, The Killers, Keane, Eminem, Green Day, 50 Cent and Kelly Clarkson among others. Clarkson, The Killers, Green Day, Kanye West and Mariah Carey are among those who will perform at this year’s show.

The bottom line is that MTV has let its signature award show slip, and McCarthy Miller is the only person who can revive it. Expect something extraordinary to restore the VMAs to prominence.

The 2005 VMAs will be broadcast live from American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, on Sunday, August 28, 2005 at 8:00PM (LIVE ET/Tape Delayed PT).

Salli Frattini and Dave Sirulnick are the Executive Producers for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. Michael Dempsey is Producer, and Summer Strauch is Co-Producer. Beth McCarthy Miller is Director. Kathy Flynn is Event Producer.

Filed under: Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Television