It’s “Hmmm…haven’t I seen that show somewhere before?” season on Quebec television networks. Viewers can’t be faulted for experiencing a feeling of déja vu when they glance at the new fare on offer from mainstream Quebec networks this winter.
Quebec adaptations of two international series lead the way.
Most popular by far is Le Banquier (The Banker), the Quebec version of Deal or No Deal. Instead of the bald, handshake-phobic Howie Mandel, however, the host is bubbly Julie Snyder, significant other of Quebecor head honcho Pierre Karl Péladeau. Le Banquier’s Jan. 24 debut-the first of 20 episodes-drew 1.91 million viewers, or 55% of the Quebec TV audience.
Hardly a surprise, the show airs on TVA, the network owned by Péladeau, and benefits from the wall-to-wall coverage Quebecor Media outlets are not shy in reserving for their own properties. Le Journal de Montreal, for example, devoted a slavering five pages of copy to mark the show’s debut. (Some of the breathless coverage: Céline Dion’s hubby René Angelil spoke to a contestant live on the phone and invited her and her family to Las Vegas! And the contestant appeared on TVA’s morning show Salut, Bonjour! the next day.)
The show features the same décor and music as its Deal… brethren, but the jackpot is only $500,000, the banker offers tickets to Habs games, and the telephone through which Snyder and the banker communicate just happens to be provided by Vidéotron-the cable company that is part of the Quebecor empire. The show’s website contains mini-bios of all 26 models, six of whom-gasp!-are male. (Note to headhunters: Model Laurence is studying marketing at McGill University and hopes someday to work for a big marketing firm.)
Vidéotron’s Illico digital TV subscribers can see previous episodes of the show, while Vidéotron wireless subscribers can take advantage of an “exclusive” offer to download any of of the show’s three musical themes for a mere $2.50. In the “La Valise du Banquier” (Banker’s Suitcase) contest, viewers can win a Hyundai Elantra.
Not so popular with Quebec audiences is La Job, Radio-Canada’s adaptation of British mockumentary series The Office. Like its U.S. and U.K. counterparts, the show is set in a paper-distribution company and features a lead character named David Gervais-a wink to Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the original British series.
The first episode of La Job in January drew 498,000 viewers, underwhelming for a highly-publicized Quebec series. By Jan. 25, the numbers had tumbled to 229,000. A Palm Arnold report gives the show only a fair chance of obtaining a decent audience.
Better news for Radio-Canada was the Jan. 20 return of celebrity gabfest Tout le monde en parle, which topped the ratings with an average of 1.8 million viewers, according to BBM Nielsen Media Research.
Overall, perennial leader TVA continues to top the Quebec market. For the week of Jan. 15 to 21, it had a market share of 26.1%, followed by Radio-Canada at 14.4% and TQS with 10.9%, according to BBM. However, that gives the big three mainstream networks only 51% of the market.
In recent years, “we’ve noted a reduction in the market share of the traditional networks in favour of the specialty channels,” reads the Palm Arnold report on the current TV season. Sports channel RDS topped the specialty channels from Jan. 15 to 21 with 6.5%, followed by Super Ecran with 4% and Séries + with 3.6%.
This TV season in Quebec has also been marked by a major drop in new drama series, although several old favourites are back. As a Cossette Media report on this season’s francophone programming notes: “Productions are costly, and the huge audience successes are less and less guaranteed.”
With competition high between networks and both satellite and digital penetration rising, it’s no surprise networks are tapping into tried and true formulas, notes the report. “The French networks are concentrating on reinforcing their personalities,” it says.
