Since its launch a month ago, Martin Matte’s talk show has been losing steam, at almost 100,000 per week.
The first episode with Patrick Huard and his infamous “organigrain” was watched by 875,000 people. The second, featuring Stéphane Rousseau, dropped to 784,000 followers. The third, that of Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais, slipped to 682,000 diehards, while the fourth, which welcomed Julie Le Breton, fell to 610,000 viewers. A drop of a third in the audience in four weeks.
We agree: the audience ratings of Martin Matte live are not catastrophic, especially in the current context of multiplatform dispersion, which is eating away at the market share of traditional TV. By compiling the delayed viewings, the first two episodes of the TVA talk show climbed to 1,094,000 and 991,000 curious viewers respectively. There are still people at mass, more than at Christian Bégin on Télé-Québec, let’s say.
It remains that the downward trend of Martin Matte live does not slow down and certainly worries the bosses of the station, who have bet big on their comic headliner.
PHOTO TAKEN FROM THE SHOW’S FACEBOOK PAGE
Martin Matte received Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais during the third episode.
There remains a significant gap between the character of Martin Matte’s fierce and hyper-confident guy and the content of his show, which does not live up to the arrogance he demonstrates.
That’s where it sticks, I think. Martin Matte cannot speak of him as an “excellent host” or the “best host”, even if it is derision or exaggeration, and conduct such a disjointed and choppy interview with the young comedian Pierre -Yves Roy-Desmarais. It doesn’t add up, and people at home quickly realize that.
If he is truly superior to his comrades, let him prove it in his work. Point bar. The character of the “guy on top of his affairs” has served Martin Matte for years and fueled his work as a comedian. Transposed into a talk show context, a television exercise which requires more humility and which consists of highlighting someone other than oneself, this haughty character reaches his limits.
With Julie Le Breton, last Thursday’s guest, Martin Matte had sincere and lively exchanges. We didn’t feel that he was trying to draw out a pre-scripted gag or to punch at all costs. It must be said that Julie Le Breton, a golden guest, did not hesitate to reframe the host when he spoke to her about his fear of aging on screen, a subject that he did not discuss with Patrick Huard, For example.
The fourth episode of Martin Matte live was unfortunately spoiled at the end, in the sketch with the teleprompter. The lines written in advance for Julie Le Breton had her talking about her heavy periods, which resemble the Saguenay flood – a real crime scene! – as menopause approaches.
Was it necessary to go below the belt to get some laughs from the crowd? Not so much, no. It was funnier when Julie Le Breton made fun of the non-actor Martin Matte on the set of Beautiful discomforts.
Parenthesis about this segment on the teleprompter: Martin Matte did not borrow it from the show I am coming to you by Marc Labrèche. In December 2022, Martin Matte tested this concept with Fabien Cloutier and he posted an extract on his Facebook page in March, shortly before the broadcast of I am coming to you on Noovo. End of the paternity parenthesis.
What Martin Matte does best in his talk show? The opening numbers, which mix current events with jokes about Masked singers. He runs through the introduction with a good mix of intelligence, arrogance and elegance.
What works less well: the series of sketches The last link, which does not stand out despite all the talent it brings together: Geneviève Schmidt, Isabel Richer, Roy Dupuis, Marc Labrèche, Matthieu Pepper, Jean-François Provençal and Marie-Lyne Joncas. It’s not super funny.
The collaborators, including Pierre Brassard, Maude Landry and Katherine Levac, are doing well, as are The Appendeux. Martin Matte also tests mime and improvisation games, to escape the more rigid framework of the traditional interview. It’s okay, he’s trying things. Another positive point: his burst questionnaire always contains well-sent nonsense, like this one, to Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais: “Would you rather be poor and happy or be rich and do another season of No hard feelings » ? This is the slobbery Martin Matte we love.
Stéphane Rousseau learned it the hard way at V, in 2018: piloting a talk show is complex and challenging. Martin Matte is currently caught in a strange position. He can’t step back and act modest, because that’s the complete opposite of his public image. He cannot confine himself to the position of the condemned to excellence either, because there is a lack of evidence in his file.