We cite Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ a lot when we talk about the American giants against whom Radio-Canada, TVA, Noovo and Télé-Québec are fighting to obtain public favor. However, we would neglect the threat of another major force: YouTube.
According to the results of a Global World Index survey, presented Tuesday at the annual conference of the Association québécoise des productions medias (AQPM), YouTube comes in second place among the most popular streaming platforms in French-speaking Canada. And this among all age groups.
“It’s a big surprise,” observes Florence Girot, head of innovation at the Canada Media Fund.
YouTube is close behind Netflix among 16-24 year olds (68% versus 75%), 25-34 year olds (61% versus 75%), 35-44 year olds (58% versus 64%), 45-54 year olds (48 % versus 54%) and even 55-64 year olds (37% versus 42%), while one would have believed that only the youngest were likely to spend hours exploring its every nook and cranny, with extensive research. videos of cats, blunders and souvenir clips.
Overall, 54.4% of French-speaking respondents use YouTube. The video hosting website comes behind Netflix (61.9%), but ahead of Prime Video (36.6%), Disney+ (29.7%), ICI Tou.tv (17.4%), Crave ( 7.9%), AppleTV+ (7.0%) and Club illico (6.4%).
“It shows the level of penetration of a platform like YouTube, which is changing our consumption habits,” comments Florence Girot in an interview. This makes it an even bigger competitor than we thought. »
According to Florence Girot, YouTube could soon overtake Netflix in Canada, as it did in the United States, in February 2023. Since then, it has been at the top of viewing shares.
It’s coming here. At YouTube, they know very well what they are doing. They have a real expansion strategy, just like TikTok. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan is very clear: They’re aiming for the living room screen.
Florence Girot, head of innovation at the Canada Media Fund
“YouTube is Google… It’s not nothing,” she adds. This is the power of data, this is artificial intelligence. He’s a big, big player. And he is a player who is not regulated like the others. But it is fully part of the audiovisual landscape. This must be taken into account. »
The challenge of connected TVs
Speaking of connected TVs, which allow us to watch Netflix and the like directly in our living room, directly (via WiFi) or indirectly (using a streaming stick), their popularity continues to climb, reveals data from Global World Index. In 2023, 73.5% of French-speaking respondents claimed to have them, a jump of 18 percentage points compared to 2020 (55.3%).
However, these “smart televisions” rarely offer the ICI Tou.tv and Club illico applications. On the other hand, their interface systematically offers Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and, of course, YouTube.
To give local platforms a chance, Florence Girot is only considering one solution: regulation.
“The only way to constrain manufacturers is to tell them that if they want to sell connected televisions in Canada, they will have to offer Canadian players. »
Words from ministers
Held at the Saint-Hyacinthe Convention Center on 24e AQPM congress welcomes 450 audiovisual professionals, producers and broadcasters, until this Wednesday. It comes at the end of a tumultuous year for the industry, marked in particular by cuts at TVA, Radio-Canada and Bell Media.
The theme of the meeting reflects the concerns of the community: Exist, adapt, evolve.
The President and CEO of the AQPM, Hélène Messier, held interviews with two ministers during the day. At the provincial level, Mathieu Lacombe (Culture and Communications) spoke of a reform of the financing system for audiovisual productions. At the federal level, Pascale St-Onge (Canadian Heritage) reiterated the Liberal Party’s electoral promise to increase the envelopes reserved for French-speaking productions, to reduce the gap with their English-speaking counterparts. According to the most recent data from the Canada Media Fund provided by the AQPM, the average budget for an hour of fiction in English amounts to 2.4 million, while in French, it only reaches 620,000 $.
Pascale St-Onge also discussed the review of the mandate of CBC/Radio-Canada. The minister has set a timetable: she wishes to consult her committee of experts over the next three months, to propose an “exciting” vision next fall, she declared on the microphone.
Recovering young people
Elsewhere, a discussion bringing together leaders of the four general channels (Radio-Canada, TVA, Noovo and Télé-Québec) focused on the importance of winning back the youth audience, which is deserting Quebec television.
If they do not develop any attraction for our culture, we suspect real danger.
Nadine Dufour, vice-president of content at Télé-Québec
“Coviewing” shows (which bring together the whole family – parents and children – around the television) seem to be bearing fruit. Among the convincing examples, we note Survivor Quebec, STAT And Alerts.