According to a study published Tuesday by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), 67% of Quebecers who watch traditional television do so most often in French. This proportion is significantly lower on streaming platforms, amounting to only 42% for those who mainly consume shows and series in the language of Molière.
Last spring, the OQLF conducted a survey of 3,565 people in Quebec about the preferred languages, particularly for watching films or shows, reading books or newspapers or listening to the radio. The OQLF maintains that “the fact of consuming cultural products in a given language could be considered as an indicator of the appreciation of this language or as a factor which could favor among people [son] use in other areas of their lives.
The figures from the survey testify to the fact that traditional television still plays an “anchoring role in the territory and in the daily reality of a cultural and geographical area,” says Marta Boni, associate professor in the history department of art and cinema studies from the University of Montreal.
She emphasizes that it will also be relevant to observe the evolution of the offer of Quebec digital platforms which compete with giants like Netflix. “There are already very interesting solutions, but the figures show us that it is not yet something that will lead to more massive consumption of French-speaking content. However, this remains to be followed. »
Still according to the document entitled Languages of consumption of cultural content in Quebec in 2023, only 39% of respondents aged 18 to 44 watch films mainly in French, while this proportion rises to 64% among those aged 45 and over. According to the survey, older people consume more cultural content in French than younger people, in all categories listed in the study (watching films, reading books, etc.).
French-speaking newspapers and radio stations are also popular
As part of the study, two-thirds of radio fans said they listen to it most often in French, while three-quarters of daily newspaper readers do so mainly in the same language.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, only 17% of Quebecers said they listen to songs in French most often. “It’s not because people prefer songs in English or French. This is because the cultural offering is overwhelmingly English-speaking in this area,” maintains Pierre Barrette, director of the Media School at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
According to the survey, 35% of Quebecers say they listen to music in both French and English, while 43% of respondents do so most often in the language of Shakespeare.
Unlike other content such as series or films, enjoying a song does not necessarily depend on our linguistic knowledge, Mr. Barrette points out. “You can listen to the Beatles very well without speaking a word of English,” he illustrates.