Five years ago, Bell acquired the V television network, which was on a downward slope at the time. Buoyed by the success of its reality TV shows, such as Big Brother And Survivorthe third general channel in Quebec, since renamed Noovo, is undoubtedly in a better position today. But the challenges remain numerous in these troubled times for the television industry. Profits are still awaited.
It is impossible to know the details of Noovo’s financial situation. But Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) does not hide the fact that its media subsidiary is experiencing difficulties. The telecommunications giant reported last February that advertising revenues generated by its various TV channels and radio stations had fallen by $140 million in 2023. In an interview with Duty, Bell Media’s top executive in Quebec, Suzane Landry, half-admits that Noovo is not profitable at present.
“When you invest in a channel like we do, you see the benefits later. The current economic context is complicated. Advertisers are coming back, but production costs are increasing. The budget equation is difficult,” says the woman who holds the title of vice-president of content development, programming and information..
Audacity
Shortly after its launch, Noovo invested a lot of resources in fiction, in particular. A significant shift compared to the days of TQS, then V, when the channel presented very few heavy series, if any at all. To compete with TVA and Radio-Canada in this area, Bell focused on bold productions, both in terms of the subjects they address and their visual style, such as Pet, One way ticket or even The emperor.
“When we launched Noovo, our goal was to come up with shows that generate discussion, and I think that’s what we achieved,” says Suzane Landry, who was at TVA before being recruited by Bell in January 2020.
Several heavyweight series from Noovo have been critically acclaimed, but they have generated fairly limited audiences, if we only look at live viewing. Is this why the channel seems to have changed its strategy for its fifth television season? In its fall schedule, Noovo mainly offers fiction that was already relayed several months ago on the Crave platform. Marco Lachancea rather classic comedy in form, is the main new feature on the fiction side.
“This fall, it’s true that variety is taking up more space with What talent! [adaptation de la franchise Got Talent]which we are the first in the world to do daily. But next winter, it will be something else, and in the spring too. What is certain is that there will always be fiction on Noovo. We aim for a balance between reality TV, variety and fiction. That’s what makes a generalist channel beautiful,” says Suzane Landry.
More flexibility
Under the conditions imposed by the CRTC, Noovo is also required to provide a place for news in its programming. After the acquisition of V was made official, the new owners set about building a newsroom from scratch: a major challenge, especially in a context where newscasts have seen their audiences erode in recent years. More than three years after the creation of Noovo Info, Bell is requesting certain regulatory reliefs with regard to regional coverage.
“We want to continue to inform people across Quebec, but we need more flexibility. For example, if there are fires in Abitibi, we want to be able to put all our resources on it if we consider that this is the news of the day. If we think it’s relevant to put three journalists on this subject, we want to be able to do it. Right now, we don’t have that leeway. We make decisions based on the CRTC’s requirements, and not according to our editorial line,” laments the Vice-President of Bell Media.
According to our information, the ratings for the 5 p.m. newscast on Noovo Info ranged between 20,000 and 50,000 last week. This is much lower than for the TVA and Radio-Canada newscasts, which each continue to attract a few hundred thousand viewers in the early evening.
Priority to young people
Noovo achieves, by far, its greatest successes with its reality TV shows: Double occupancy, Survivor, The traitors or even Big Brother Celebritieswhich reached nearly 700,000 viewers on Sunday evenings last winter. But in most time slots, the channel remains well behind its two major rivals.
“You have to be careful with audience ratings. These are figures that concern the entire population. At Noovo, we made the bet to target 18-54 year-olds, particularly 18-34, who are the ones who are least likely to watch TV. And when we look at these two age groups, Noovo shows very good results,” says Suzane Landry.
In its latest annual report, BCE indicated that Noovo broadcast 3 of the 10 most listened to regular programs among 25 to 54 year olds in the French-speaking market. The question now is whether these figures will encourage Bell to continue investing in Noovo.
BCE announced in February that it was cutting 9% of its workforce. Compared to other sectors within the company, Noovo had been relatively spared. Then, last May, Bell undertook a major reorganization within its senior management. The company’s president in Quebec, Karine Moses, is still in office, but she is no longer attached to the Bell Media subsidiary. Media activities in Quebec are now the responsibility of Toronto. For Suzane Landry, this does not mean that Bell is losing interest in the Quebec market.
“The reorganization hasn’t changed anything. It’s still the same vision for the past five years. Bell continues to invest heavily in French-language content, whether with Noovo, our specialty channels or Crave. We believe in Quebec culture. That’s why we took over the Gala Québec Cinéma, which had been abandoned. [par Radio-Canada]”That’s also why we buy 90% of Quebec films,” she says, hoping to silence the critics.