Despite the erosion of cable subscriptions, the war of media empires, inflation and the rise of on-demand viewing platforms, specialty channels are holding their own. For the moment.
Over the past few days, the specialty channels have unveiled the weapons (or rather the headliners) with which they will fight to survive and, above all, obtain the favors of viewers in the fall. Canal Vie recruited Kim Rusk (Couples surviving) and Mélissa Bédard (Tout pour vente), Canal D retained the services of Mathieu Baron to pilot J’ai frôlé la mort, CASA entrusted a series of renovations to Réal Béland (Réal arrives), and Évasion asked ex-hockey players Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre to visit microbreweries (La route des microphones with Max and Guillaume).
“Most specialty channels are still profitable,” says Sébastien Charlton, researcher at the Center for Media Studies. We can think that beyond the regulatory obligations, the large media conglomerates still have an interest in producing or broadcasting original content, if only to feed their online platforms and services in parallel. »
Director of the School of Media at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Pierre Barrette foresees an upcoming rationalization of specialized channels. Are they doomed to cease their activities, like Vrak, who will disappear in a few weeks? Maybe, but not right away.
“In the United States, we announced the disappearance of specialty channels 10, 15 years ago, when people started to cancel their cable subscription en masse. But they are still there,” the professor points out.
On the broadcaster side, optimism prevails as to the future of Zeste, ICI ARTV, Séries Plus and company.
“I would like to have a crystal ball”, illustrates Mélanie Bhérer, general manager, variety, lifestyle, documentary and digital, at Bell Media Quebec.
The erosion of cable subscriptions is far from over, believes Dany Meloul, director general, television, of Radio-Canada. This erosion is likely to “last for a while”, she concedes. “But Netflix is a subscription. Prime Video is a subscription. This notion of subscribing to something because you like the brand or the DNA is the platform model. »
A few statistics show that in the kingdom of specialty channels, all is not bleak.
Although in linear television, viewing hours continue to decline (-8.5%) among 25-54 year olds (target group of advertisers), specialized stations are doing better (-5.6%) than their generalist counterparts (-11.1%), according to 2022 and 2021 data from Numeris in French-speaking Quebec, compiled by Cossette Media.
Inflation could, however, accelerate the decline in the number of subscribers to specialized channels, estimates Sébastien Charlton, of the Center for Media Studies. According to the researcher, the potential downturn in the economy could also cause advertisers to spend less. To compensate for this loss of revenue, specialty channels could slow down – or even stop – the production of original content.
“However, it is more complicated for certain types of channels, including sports channels, which may have longer-term – or more expensive – agreements to respect,” adds Sébastien Charlton.
Two types of specialty channels seem a long way from extinction: sports and 24-hour news. Their situation is not perfect, but in general, they manage to hold their own.
According to a Cossette Media report released last Thursday, sports channels are among the favorites of adults aged 25 to 54. RDS (1,712,000 subscribers) ranks 2nd, and TVA Sports (1,324,000 subscribers), 4th.
The market shares of the Quebecor sports antenna, however, plunged 27% with the same audience in 2022, in particular due to the “poor performance of the Montreal Canadiens”, reports the study. Conversely, those of RDS increased by 7%. According to Cossette, “the variety of high-level sporting events (hockey, football, tennis, golf and Formula 1)” that it offers explains this increase.
According to the Quebec advertising firm, “viewers’ interest in learning about world news, the war in Ukraine, the Canadian and American political and social scene, and environmental disasters” explain this marked increase.
“During the pandemic, 24-hour news channels have been very successful,” says Luce Julien, general manager of information at Radio-Canada. We were afraid of losing a few audiences afterwards, but no. The public that followed us in times of a pandemic is still present. For the year 2022-2023, we harvest 4.1 market shares. This is a record for us. »
ICI RDI would also have succeeded in rejuvenating its audience, courtesy of programs like Les décrypteurs and Zone économique, adds Sébastien Perron. In three years, the average age of network viewers has dropped from 65 to 59.