Claim: Sunny Leone appears on a show airing on MTV India.

An MTV Video Music Award -LRB- commonly abbreviated as a VMA -RRB- is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium . Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards -LRB- in the video category -RRB- , the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the `` Super Bowl for youth '' , an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony 's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year . By 2001 , the VMA had become a coveted award . The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon , one of the earliest representations of MTV , and colloquially called a `` moonman '' . The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design -- also designers of the original MTV logo -- based on the 1981 `` Top of the Hour '' animation created by Fred Seibert , produced by Alan Goodman , and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates . The statue is now made by New York firm , Society Awards . Since the 2006 ceremony , viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV 's website .   The annual VMA ceremony occurs before the end of summer and held either in late August or mid-September , and broadcast live on MTV , along with simulcasts on MTV 's sister networks to nullify in-house competition . The first VMA ceremony was held in 1984 at New York City 's Radio City Music Hall . The ceremonies are normally held in either New York City or Los Angeles . However , the ceremonies have also been hosted in Miami and Las Vegas .