RDS and TVA Sports: many subscribers in the 25-54 age group

As you know, the challenges in television have been great for several years now. And the more things progress, the more the giants of the field are ready to do anything to put obstacles in the opposition’s way.

With the rise of alternative options (Netflix and company, social networks for information in some respects, streaming, etc.), it’s hard to have the same expectations as before, when TV was on top of the world.

And now it’s a case of the wheel turning: the more people abandon TV, the less of a priority it becomes.

So it’s a big challenge for everyone in the business. Finding the right formula to keep viewers tuning in is therefore more important than ever for the bosses.

And the good news is that specialty channels are doing just that.

According to La Presse journalist Marc-André Lemieux, specialty channels are holding their own… despite having been “announced dead” for years now.

In sports, for example, RDS and TVA Sports, the two big French-language sports channels in Quebec, are not doing badly when it comes to subscriptions per se.

According to a Cossette Media report on the subject, both channels rank in the top-4 among the favorites of adults aged 25-54.

• Second place: RDS with 1,712,000 subscribers
• Fourth place: TVA Sports with 1,324,000 subscribers

That said, just because subscriptions are good doesn’t necessarily mean market share. There are undoubtedly channels to which you subscribe but don’t watch very often, aren’t there?

That’s what I thought.

In the case of RDS, things are going well. Market share has increased by 7% when we compare data with the same audience in 2022, i.e. people aged between 25 and 54.

But what about TVA Sports? It’s down 27% for the same age group.

When you consider that the Quebecor station’s overall market share is up in the second quarter of 2023 compared to 2022, you realize that TV is indeed an aging medium.

After all, the decline we’re writing about this morning is in the 25 to 54 age group… and they’re not tipping the scales overall.

TVA Sports, at which there are changes this fall, is down compared to RDS since the offering at Bell isn’t based solely on the Habs, a rebuilding club that isn’t always perfect on the ice.

But at TVA Sports, it’s mainly the CH (and its many defeats) that makes people tune in a little less.

All this adds importance to the NHL’s contract for national broadcasting rights. The contract expires in three years’ time, and we wonder whether RDS will take over.

Remember: in three years, the Habs should be good on the ice.

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