Last night's MTV VMAs may have gotten a late start thanks to the Ravens-Cowboys game running long and nearly going into overtime, but the delay may have been worth the wait.

The Video Music Awards, broadcast on CBS for the second year in a row, had their best viewership since 2015. The honors, hosted this year by Snoop Dogg, averaged 8.43 million viewers, up significantly even from last year's improvement of 5.5 million.

The strength of the viewership may largely come down to three major factors. With the NFL lead-in, the VMAs were riding the wake of one of the league's most popular teams, the Dallas Cowboys (who lost to Baltimore thanks to a final-second field goal, 34 to 31).

There was also the kick-off musical performance from the night's most-nominated act, the Queen of Pop herself. Madonna tore up the Peacock Theatre with assists from Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX, before handing things over to the emcee for the evening, Snoop Dogg.

The portions of the night that weren't dedicated to awarding Madonna were otherwise dedicated to award Taylor Swift, who managed to snag an honorary award from the producers and then took the opportunity to debut her latest music video on CBS. Swift was a big winner for the evening, taking home Video of the Year, as well as Best Direction.

The night also featured musical tributes to both Dolly Parton and George Michael, with the year's Video Vanguard Award going to Nirvana, further playing to the glory days of MTV.