The soap opera Le Monde à l’envers came to an abrupt and astonishing end on Monday when TVA announced that it was disconnecting the talk show. This about-face provoked a strong reaction from Stéphan Bureau. “Never in forty years of professional life have I seen such a way of doing things,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
The news took the television industry by surprise since last week, the weekly appointment was still appearing on TVA’s fall schedule. Its second season was scheduled to begin on Friday, September 22.
On LinkedIn, his favorite social network, Stéphan Bureau deplored the “final and unexpected” decision of the “boss and owner of TVA”, Pierre Karl Péladeau, without ever naming him directly. Through a candid message published in the early afternoon, the host was outraged for the team behind the show, made up of “very high level professionals”.
These people find themselves unemployed today, when they thought they would be employed until the spring of 2024. And since the fall start will take place in less than a month, their chances of landing a job elsewhere seem rather slim, the teams other shows have been sold out for some time now. “Our associates who have often given up on other proposals are discovering that a commitment wouldn’t be a commitment? The precedent troubles me, but I hope it can serve as a warning to others, ”wrote Stéphan Bureau.
La Presse contacted artisans of Le Monde à l’envers. Some did not hide their disappointment. “It’s the world upside down to announce a show renewal and then its cancellation,” commented one, who had just heard the news (and who requested anonymity for fear of losing other contracts).
Within hours of posting Stéphan Bureau’s message, Pierre Karl Péladeau said on X (formerly Twitter) that “there [was] never an easy way to unschedule a show.” “The economic imperatives facing our industry force us to make difficult decisions, including this one,” added the President and CEO of Quebecor.
Pierre Karl Péladeau also apologized to the collaborators of Le Monde à l’envers, “who must undergo these imperatives”.
In a message sent to La Presse by email, TVA Group explained its about-face, citing its poor second quarter financial results, presented last Thursday. “TVA Group is experiencing significant losses, causing it to have to make this difficult decision,” summarized network management, specifying that it would not issue any further comment.
The company announced last week that it recorded revenue of 138.8 million, down 8.7 million from the second quarter of 2022. Net loss attributable to shareholders was 7.8 million, more than double the loss realized last year (3.2 million) during the same period. “The implementation of the restructuring plan announced on February 16 has not yet generated sufficient savings to offset the significant impacts resulting from a declining advertising market and the absence of foreign productions in our studios”, had Mr. Péladeau said in the TVA Group press release.
The program that TVA chose to occupy the time slot of Le Monde à l’envers seems to confirm this theory. The channel will broadcast an American series, FBI: La recruit, a French version of the crime drama The Rookie: Feds. For its part, J.E. will return to its 9 p.m. slot.
Contacted by telephone, Stéphan Bureau refused our interview request.
In his LinkedIn post, Stéphan Bureau confirmed that TVA had demanded a change of producer, as reported by La Presse last week. This request came after the acquisition by Bell Media, eternal rival of Quebecor, of a minority share in Sphère Média, the production box behind the first season of the World upside down. Attraction (En direct de l’univers, Les chefs!) inherited the contract during a “delicate operation” that Stéphan Bureau calls a “heart transplant”.
“The transplant had been perfectly successful and so we were ready for the race!” “, underlined the host, before indicating that the team was finally “condemned to remain in the starting blocks”.
Neither Attraction nor Sphere Media wanted to comment on the situation.
Last June, Quebecor Content lost its vice-president of original content when Denis Dubois, who had held this position since 2019, retired from the industry. Since then, Nadège Pouyez, former director general, fiction and documentary, of the company, has occupied this key position. Several sources confirm that Pierre Karl Péladeau has been “actively” involved in each of TVA’s programming decisions for some time.
