Radio-Canada will no longer broadcast on ICI Télé the Gala Québec Cinéma, which had been recording catastrophic ratings for a few years already.
The public broadcaster announced late Monday that a special “variety and interview” program celebrating local cinema would be broadcast “at the most opportune time” to replace the gala. An episode of the summer talk show Good evening ! with Jean-Philippe Wauthier will also be dedicated to promoting Quebec cinema next year, Radio-Canada pledged in a press release.
The Gala Québec Cinéma had been broadcast since 2003 by Radio-Canada. The ceremony was called the Jutras Awards Evening until 2016, before the name of Claude Jutras was smeared by very serious allegations of pedophilia. For several years, the ceremony had been struggling to find its audience on the air.
The last edition, hosted by actress Geneviève Schmidt, had been torn by critics. In post-mortem, the public broadcaster had made no secret of juggling the idea of stopping broadcasting the gala, especially since the audience has dropped in recent years. In 2021, barely 450,000 people watched the Iris trophy presentation.
“After careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that other strategies can allow us to more effectively increase the visibility of local films and cinema artists,” finally ruled Radio-Canada.
Decision deplored
Quebec Cinema, which organizes the gala, strongly deplored this decision at the start of the evening, urging the public broadcaster to back down. “The ratings for the past two years cannot be used as a benchmark, when there was the pandemic and we aired in June, during one of the times of the year when people listen to the minus the TV. Even with 400,000 viewers, it remains an important showcase for Quebec cinema, ”insists Sylvie Quenneville, general manager of Quebec Cinema.
For her, the two special programs on Quebec cinema that Radio-Canada wishes to broadcast will never be able to replace the media coverage of the gala. Could the awards evening survive off the air or even migrate to another broadcaster? Mme Quenneville avoids the question since she still hopes that Radio-Canada will change its tune.
The Radio-Canada press release does not specify whether the ceremony could in the future be broadcast only on ARTV, for example.
One thing is certain, this announcement is part of a larger phenomenon. Not only in Quebec, but all over the world, there is a public disaffection for awards evenings. Both the Oscars in the United States and the Césars in France have seen their ratings decline over the years. Earlier this year, the TVA network announced that it was ending the Artis, once one of the galas the most watched in Quebec.