MTV Starved for Audience?

Turned on VH1 on cable last night (9/7/08) at 9pm only to see a message on the screen suggesting that we tune to MTV to view the MTV Video Music Awards.  Is MTV is getting desperate for audience? …are they losing viewers to online or other stations?  Doesn’t look good when a totally separate channel has to send viewers to bolster the audience.  I’m not sure if Viacom execs believe that VH1’s ad revenue is so low that a "redirect" is more valuable or if MTV is so needy that a "redirect" is necessary.