The ADISQ Gala struggled to win Sunday night, and recorded its worst ratings in recent years. If the coverage of the municipal elections stole part of his audience, the lack of interest in this great cultural mass – and galas in general – is also involved, according to experts and actors in the field.
“Sunday evening is THE big television night in Quebec. The competition is fierce. Usually it is played between Revolution [à TVA] and Everybody talks about it [à ICI Radio-Canada Télé]. But the addition of LCN and ICI RDI election evenings divided the ratings, ”notes Pierre Barrette, professor at UQAM’s Media School.
According to surveys by the firm Numéris, 677,000 people followed the 43e ADISQ Gala on ICI Radio-Canada Télé. This is a 33% drop in ratings compared to 2020 (1,015,000 viewers). In 2019, they were almost double to follow the awards ceremony, or 1,230,000.
As Louis-Josée Houde began his opening monologue, coverage of the municipal elections by LCN and ICI RDI drew 234,000 and 225,000 politicians, respectively. Or the equivalent of the number of listeners missing from the ADISQ Gala to equal its usual statistics.
But why organize the Gala on the evening of the municipal elections, the date of which has been known for four years? This is the question that many viewers and players in the music industry are asking themselves in recent days.
The answer ? It was that or Halloween night. “When the decision was taken in June, we hoped above all to return to the theater, and the dates available at Place des Arts – and for Radio-Canada – it was October 31 or November 7,” explains Ève in an interview. Paré, general manager of ADISQ. As artists are less available on Halloween, the choice fell on election day which “arouses little enthusiasm” usually.
“If it had to be done again today, we would look at it differently”, continues Mme Paré, recalling having taken office in September, when the decision was already taken. “Such a drop [de l’audimat] force to ask questions […] and to do a mea culpa, ”she adds.
Changing habits
For her part, the executive director of Radio-Canada television, Dany Meloul, does not regret anything and is not overly worried about the plummeting of ratings. “Radio-Canada very often has catch-up listening which greatly increases the figures. […] We will know more in a few weeks. “
Moreover, adding Monday’s catch-up viewings, 725,000 people actually watched the 43e ADISQ Gala.
“The figures we are given often do not take into account the television habits which have changed. […] It is not a figure which measures the interest, but rather which was available Sunday to listen to the Gala live, indicates Danick Trottier, director of the Department of music of UQAM, certain that the figures will continue to inflate.
Such a drop [de l’audimat] force to ask questions […] and do a mea culpa
The younger generations, he says, no longer follow the schedule for television broadcasts. With the proliferation of online viewing platforms and the possibility of watching programs offline, they are setting their own schedule and making the numbers lie.
The fact remains that it is indeed ADISQ that has suffered from the attraction for the election coverage of the continuous channels, and not TVA. The popular dance show Revolution reached 1,134,000 viewers on Sunday evening, while Masked singers collected 1,497,000, figures similar to recent weeks.
“Deadly” galas
For Pierre Barrette of UQAM, galas in times of pandemic cool viewers, because that of ADISQ is not the only one concerned. Québec Cinéma, Artis, Les Olivier, Les Gémeaux, but also the Oscars, the Golden Globes and many other artistic celebrations have seen their audiences drop for two years.
“People watch galas for the red carpet and for the”show”. They want to see artists cry or party because they won or lost. Since the pandemic, with the masks, the distance and the absence of the public, the galas are very painful, even fatal. “
“With indoor concerts on hiatus and the postponement of album launches, perhaps Quebecers have felt more distant from their artists, more disconnected from the music industry. It makes you less want to know if they have won prizes or not, ”says Alexan Artun, president and founder of Rosemarie Records.
The fact that the artists present at the ADISQ gala on Sunday evening were less known to the general public could also have played a role, believe several speakers interviewed by The duty. For once, the Gala gave pride of place to emerging artists such as FouKi, Klô Pelgag, CRi, Léa Jarry or even Anachnid. “It’s an excellent thing, but it’s also understandable that the public recognizes itself less in the musical portrait without the France d’Amour and Daniel Bélanger of this world,” notes Danick Trottier.
“If these emerging artists were more present on radio and in traditional media the rest of the year, perhaps the public would have been a lot more present in front of the ADISQ Gala”, replies Fannie Crépin, co-founder of Musique Bleue, believing for its part that it is the format of televised galas that should be reinvented.