TVA Sports finds itself this evening at a decisive crossroads, symbolized by the live broadcast of the Canadian’s match against the Maple Leafs across the entire TVA network.
Despite overwhelming pressure to raise its ratings, the network chose not to make changes to its commentary team, defying persistent public criticism.
Yet with an average of only 400,000 viewers since the start of the year, the warning signs are huge.
The managers hope that such an evening will breathe new life into the channel, but the response of Quebecers, more and more inclined to switch to Sportsnet, risks revealing a cruel reality.
This desertion exposes the deep challenges of TVA Sports, which, after a decade of existence and cumulative losses approaching half a billion dollars, is struggling to captivate sports fans.
For commentators Félix Séguin and Patrick Lalime, as well as Élizabeth Rancourt, who has been trying to impose her style since the departure of Louis Jean, the stakes are immense.
Their performances are scrutinized, amplified by social networks, while the slightest error could mark a further step towards the fall of the channel.
This is why Elizabeth Rancourt seemed so nervous in the introduction.
Pierre Karl Péladeau is betting big on this broadcast, hoping that the return to accessible television will revitalize the audience, at the risk of redefining Quebecor’s strategy in the sports field.
But how to revitalize a channel…by always offering the same thing that doesn’t work.
Rancourt with a trembling voice, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse who repeat their blue pocket, Félix Séguin hesitant, Patrick Lalime and his French mistakes, Renaud Lavoie who protects the CH players (he does it well and with good French unlike Lalime )…in short, nothing new under the sun.
TVA Sports is on the edge of the precipice this evening. By refusing to review its team of commentators despite growing criticism, the channel seems to be stubbornly on a downward trajectory.
The stakes are colossal for this broadcaster which has bet heavily on hockey, to the point of risking the viability of its entire existence.
Tonight, while the Montreal Canadiens face the Toronto Maple Leafs live, the broadcast on TVA is a desperate attempt by Pierre Karl Péladeau to save a model that has already passed its date.
For years, TVA Sports has been accumulating losses at a staggering rate, today approaching $300 million.
We are witnessing a real financial abyss in the world of Quebecor.
Péladeau, true to his reputation for having a pride that could move mountains, refuses to bend under pressure.
For him, hockey is more than just a sport: it is a vector of Quebec culture, a meeting of raw emotions which, if well managed, could bring together huge crowds.
But now, the current reality is very different, and the figures speak for themselves: Quebec no longer wants to know anything about TVA Sports.
We will know this evening if Quebec wants to know anything about TVA.
At the helm of this team of commentators is Félix Séguin, a veteran whose reputation has worn down over the years.
Séguin struggles to satisfy a demanding public who, tired of it, are looking for an alternative and migrating to Sportsnet.
His years of hard work do not earn him respect.
With every hesitation, every imprecision, criticism falls. At the same time, Patrick Lalime, a former NHL player, is facing a wave of dissatisfaction: his analyzes lack depth and nuance, his French lacks rigor and several fans want a change.
Despite a career on the ice, he can’t seem to translate his experience into impactful comments that captivate the audience.
The implacable fans have nothing to do with his past service; they want clear explanations, direct insights, and not a simple repetition of game facts.
Élizabeth Rancourt, who took charge following Louis Jean, is also experiencing a difficult situation. The young animator experiences a form of rejection that cannot always be explained by the quality of her work.
Since his arrival, audiences have continued to decline, and derogatory comments, sometimes openly misogynistic, have accumulated. Rancourt faces a double burden: not only must she prevail in a hostile environment, but she must also navigate a period of uncertainty for TVA Sports, where each misstep becomes an argument against her.
Some fans, accustomed to Louis Jean’s voice, seem incapable of accepting this change, looking for the slightest pretext to criticize her.
In the background, the shadow of Dave Morissette still looms over TVA Sports. Widely appreciated for his authentic approach and his proximity to viewers, his departure left a void that the channel is struggling to fill.
And we will still have the discomfort of seeing him after the match, the crumbs that TVA agreed to give him out of pity, in the company of Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre who also seem to have pity on poor undesirable Dave.
For a large portion of the public, Morissette represented this human connection, this voice that knew how to speak to the hockey fan with disarming simplicity.
His gradual withdrawal was seen as a betrayal by several subscribers, who no longer find the same warmth with the current team.
Seeing him relegated to post-match, in a function that looks more like a “stopgap” than a rewarding role, is almost insulting to his loyal admirers.
TVA seems to have wanted to keep him in a corner, without really giving him the space to shine.
This evening, with the broadcast on TVA, Péladeau is going all out. This strategic choice takes place in a context where the specialized channel is no longer able to attract subscribers as before.
Viewers seem to prefer the varied and refreshing content of Sportsnet, gradually abandoning TVA Sports for a better established English-speaking broadcaster.
And if Péladeau’s bet doesn’t work, it could mean the end of TVA Sports in its current form.
It might be more cost-effective to simply shut down the athletic department, without the exorbitant costs associated with a 24-hour specialty channel.
Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV are eating away at Péladeau from the inside: these platforms are eating away at the audience of traditional channels, forcing Quebecor to reposition itself to avoid marginalization, or even disappearance.
By making hockey accessible without a cable subscription, Péladeau hopes to capture a massive audience this evening, prove to sponsors that hockey remains a premier event, and ultimately convince the NHL to grant him more rights when renewing his contract in 2026.
But for TVA Sports commentators and analysts, the weight of this evening is overwhelming. Every comment, every word will be analyzed, dissected, and the slightest misstep will be amplified on social networks.
It’s a cruel irony: their performance tonight could well be their own undoing. If the audience ratings are not there, this will demonstrate that a specialized channel is no longer necessary, that TVA can do without TVA Sports and concentrate on what really makes money.
For Péladeau, it would be a financial liberation, a chance to lighten a balance sheet weighed down by the accumulated deficits of TVA Sports.
The figures speak for themselves: since 2011, TVA Sports has never been profitable. This chain, which was supposed to be a locomotive for Quebecor, turned out to be a drag.
By broadcasting this match on a free channel, accessible to all, Péladeau wants to measure the extent of the enthusiasm and see if hockey can once again become the television event that unites the province.
But if the bet fails and the television ratings disappoint, it could mark the end of Quebecor’s sporting ambitions.
Thus, this evening of November 9, 2024 is not only a sporting confrontation between the Canadian and the Maple Leafs.
This is the last chance for Péladeau to prove that he can, against all odds, reinvent sports broadcasting in Quebec, that he can restore the nobility of a declining Quebec passion.
The fate of TVA Sports, and perhaps even the future of French-speaking hockey on television, rests tonight in the hands of a tough, disillusioned public, but still in love with the Montreal Canadiens.
Lover of CH…but contemptuous of TVA Sports.
There is a smell, a sense of urgency that we can smell, a scent of last chance that floats around this evening.
History will perhaps remember November 9 as the day TVA Sports found a new reason for being, or, more tragically, as the day it signed its own disappearing act.
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