The MTV Video Music Awards were established in 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year. Originally beginning as an alternative to the Grammy Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards is now a respected pop culture awards show in its own right. They are presented annually and broadcast live on MTV. Past broadcasts have been held in New York, New York, Los Angeles, California and Miami, Florida.
The statues given to winners of the award are often called "Moon Men" because the statue is of an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV. The "Moon Man" award is manufactured by blank">R.S. Owens & Company in Chicago, IL, who has been producing the award since 1984. The eligibility period for the Video Music Awards begins July 1. Before 2002, the VMAs were traditionally held on the first Thursday of September. It was decided to move the awards back a week so that it wouldn't conflict with the anniversary of the _September 11, 2001 attacks.
