The unveiling of the big TVA Sports team for the 2024-2025 season, which was supposed to be a celebration of renewal and the promise that the station would get back on its feet, turned into a real public fiasco.
Instead of the expected applause, the channel was greeted by a wave of virulent criticism on social networks.
What was supposed to be a show of force and a message to Quebec that TVA Sports was finally going to compete with RDS, quickly turned into a nightmare, exposing the deep fractures between TVA Sports and its public, not to mention the internal tensions within the group.
Jean-Charles Lajoie and Elizabeth Rancourt, presented as the headliners of the channel, were the main targets of criticism.
The people of the regions have still not forgotten the words of Lajoie who treated them as“happy fools whom he despised.”
As for Rancourt, she seems to suffer from the shadow of Louis Jean, earning her severe criticism from fans of the man she replaced.
“The queen of hockey” at TVA Sports after the dismissal of Louis Jean in the winter of 2023, was the target of numerous scathing comments.
Since his arrival, the ratings for hockey night have plummeted, leaving some of the public nostalgic for Louis Jean.
Added to this is the fact that Rancourt had to endure misogynistic attacks on social networks, particularly after his coverage of the NHL playoffs.
Although she denounced these unacceptable attacks, the pressure on her shoulders remains immense.
Rancourt also attracted public wrath with controversial remarks about Marc Denis and Carey Price.
By criticizing Denis for his too-perfect French and asserting that Price only played for money, she created a divide with the Quebec public.
“Carey Price doesn’t like hockey. He’s just there for the cash.”she declared, a comment which deeply shocked fans.
These controversial positions, combined with the fact that she refused to apologize, further tarnished the image of TVA Sports.
Online commenters are ruthless. Many Internet users deplored the lack of originality and diversity of the team presented, criticizing TVA Sports for locking itself into an outdated model.
Some critics have called the team “has been”while others mocked the “big container for so little content”.
This feeling is shared by the majority of Quebecers, who do not understand how a channel with such a payroll does not even try to refresh the description of the matches, which is a direct criticism of Félix Séguin and Patrick Lalime.
The lack of cultural diversity was also highlighted by several: “
“All white except Therrien and Boucher who went to the tanning salon.”
The most virulent reaction came from former TVA employees, the same people who lost their jobs in the successive waves of layoffs that the channel has suffered in recent years.
They no longer hide their frustration at seeing a channel drowning in debt continue to invest in expensive personalities without any return on investment.
“A lot of paychecks for a place in bankruptcy.” »
The presence of Lajoie, with an annual salary of around $400,000, is the most striking illustration of this.
While technicians, paid $40,000, lose their jobs, TVA Sports continues to rely on hosts who, according to several industry observers, do not have the talent, let alone the ratings, to justify such sums.
This resentment was also expressed by the public, who joked about Pierre-Karl Péladeau’s requests for funding from the government, while the channel continued to expand its teams.
“And they lack funding?”
The gap between the precarious financial situation of TVA Sports, which has lost between $242 and $300 million since 2011, and the exorbitant salaries paid to unpopular figures fuels a feeling of betrayal among former employees.
“An imposing team, but a chain in free fall.”
Beyond individualities, it is the entire TVA Sports project that is called into question.
We make fun of the channel that covers sporting events “A STUDIO”a shame for a sports channel supposed to offer exclusive coverage as the exclusive French-speaking broadcaster of the NHL.
This approach is the symbol of a lack of vision and resources, accentuated by a constant fall in subscribers and advertising revenue.
The public thus denounces a feeling shared by many: TVA Sports relies on personalities who bring no added value, while the channel needs to reinvent itself to survive.
The future of TVA Sports seems more uncertain than ever. With the NHL’s exclusive broadcasting contract coming to an end in 2026, some media experts argue that the station is on life support.
For the moment, the channel seems to be sinking into a spiral of strategic failures, unable to meet the expectations of its audience.
The great Quebec paradox: a channel that is drowning in debt, but which invests massively in a team disconnected from the public
The public has not been kind to TVA Sports, and for good reason.
“They can’t hold a candle to RDS, that’s why they’re in the red. Too much and little quality. »
The channel’s enormous payroll does not seem to translate into quality content, a paradox that fuels frustration and incomprehension among viewers and ex-employees.
Some imagine a television series on TVA Sports in the style of “The Office”, the famous satirical comedy about a company in failure.
For the moment, the future of TVA Sports remains bleak, between a huge overpaid team, a dissatisfied public, and finances in bright red.
The unveiling of this team for 2024-2025, supposed to mark a renewal for the channel, turned into a public disaster.
For TVA Sports, the road to recovery looks long, and the mistakes of the past still seem to weigh heavily on its future.
The public is simply merciless.
