A key figure in making the MTV Video Music Awards a part of the pop culture firmament is returning to his old home — and bringing a round-the-clock rotation of music videos with him.
Van Toffler, a former head of MTV (and other cable networks at the company then known as Viacom), and his company Gunpowder & Sky have signed a multi-year deal with MTV and CBS to, as the networks put it, “supercharge the show from a single night into a week-long, multi-platform celebration of music and music videos leading up to the main event.” Gunpowder & Sky, which Toffler co-founded with Floris Bauer, will produce the 2025 show alongside Den of Thieves.
As part of that week-long celebration, MTV will — for the first time in a very long time — revert to its original format of showing music videos 24/7 in the week leading up to the VMAs, which are set for Sept. 7 and will air on CBS for the first time (with a simulcast on MTV and live stream on Paramount+). The round-the-clock video format will also happen on MTV2, MTV Classic and MTV Live.
“The VMAs have always been where music and spectacle collide, and no one embodies that spirit more than Van Toffler,” said Paramount co-CEOs Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks, heads of, respectively, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and CBS. “Bringing Van back to the VMAs, along with Gunpowder & Sky, is about reigniting the rebellious soul of the show with a week-long music immersion and delivering global moments that are impossible to ignore.”
Said Toffler, “We’re not just producing a show. We’re launching a celebration of music that spans one week, every screen and every generation. Music has always been the heartbeat of the VMAs, but the show’s soul comes from its willingness to break rules, embrace unpredictability and reflect the times. This is about honoring that spirit while blowing open what’s possible across every format.”
Toffler joined MTV in 1987 as a business development executive and