One country, two television units. While you’re in Quebec, the 10 most-watched shows each week consist entirely of Quebec productions, in Canadian English, and they almost exclusively include American titles.

Although we have just highlighted July 1, this finding confirms that in terms of listening habits, Fine County differs sharply from ROC (Rest of Canada).

Numéris’ weekly data reveals that during the 2020-2021 calendar, only one Canadian program regularly appeared in the leading package: CTV evening news أخبار. With an average of about 1,600,000 viewers, the newscast (airs Monday through Friday at 6 p.m.) provides the day for the Canadian show.

hollywood fantasy

The fantasy series from the United States largely dominates the world rankings. good doctor الطبيب He appears at number one with 2,500,000 followers. titles like 9-1-1, Grey’s Anatomy, Lone Star, Station 19, New Amsterdam, NCIS And the this is us, which can collect between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 viewers. The Top Ten includes only one reality show: disguised singer, including the Quebec adaptation (masked singers) On TVA this fall.

Some Canadian productions make their presence felt a little in the rankings, such as the Hockey Games Maple Leafs (around 1,200,000) and Murdoch puzzlesغاز, CBC’s veteran crime drama, which typically retains millions of regulars. And this winter, Big Brother Canada He was regularly in the top twenty. But that’s it.

2/30 in Quebec

In Quebec, only two foreign titles took a place in the weekly top 30 list of the most popular shows last winter: good doctor (French version of good doctor الطبيب) And the Talent to spare (american talents), both broadcast on TVA.

The rest of the arrangement consists of local productions such as District 31, Les beaux malaises 2.0, Star Académie, Live from the universe And the forever.

to give up

The voracious appetite of English Canadians for the American show does not start from Sunday, assures Pierre Barrett, director of the UQAM School of Media.

“It has been like this for several years. Canada’s most popular channel, CTV, broadcasts American content almost through and through. It is as if TVA was showing 70% of foreign series in prime time.”

The lack of a language barrier, along with an imbalance in budgets, explains – in part – why English-speaking provinces prefer American television.

The position of ROC broadcasters feeds this major trend. “It looks like they quit,” comments Pierre Barrett. Against the big American guns, they made documentaries, shows that didn’t cost much… as if they thought they were already lost. ”

More unsubscribe from Rest of Canada »

Canada is also divided over the phenomenon of turbulence. On the English-speaking side, one in five viewers have given up on the pay-TV service. In French-speaking Quebec, we talk more about one in seven viewers.

This is what emerged from a study by the Media Technologies Observer (OTM), published on June 24.

Furthermore, 23% of English speakers who currently subscribe to traditional cable say they are “very” or “somewhat likely” to opt out and join the “wire-cutters” group (cord cutters). Among Quebec TV viewers, we’re talking about 16%.

Wire-cutters are usually active on the Internet, both young and educated. Another interesting detail: 71% of them subscribe to two or more video-on-demand services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.

Not surprisingly

These numbers came as no surprise to Pierre Barrett, director of the UQAM School of Media.

platforms flow Offering much more content in English than in French, it is more likely to interest the ROC.

But beware, the language barrier is not the only reason behind this gap. It would also be reductive to think otherwise.

Pierre Barrett notes that “TV Quebec has succeeded in winning the loyalty of its audience by offering high-quality programmes.” I have developed programming that is not in the style of the American spirit. It has its own flavor that people spontaneously sympathize with. ”

Top 5 Offers most watched In English Canada

1. Energy

• 7,028,000 viewers

2. Oprah with Meghan and Harry

• 3,076,000 viewers

3. good doctor الطبيب

• 2,120,000 viewers

4. Oscar Awards Ceremony

• 2,119,000 viewers

5. 9-1-1

• 1,871,000 viewers

Source: Numéris confirmed data, all 2+, July 1, 2020 to June 20, 2021, compiled by deepblue can