Mid-season changes to the schedules of Radio-Canada, TVA and TQS have set the stage for ratings showdowns among the top broadcasters in Quebec, with the French half of CBC looking to hang on to Monday night while also staking new territory on Sundays.

Until recently, Monday nights belonged to SRC’s primetime block, but these days, TVA is making a strong push for the night on the strength of its popular police drama Le Négociateur. Recent episodes of Le Négociateur have drawn close to two million viewers in its 9:30 p.m. Monday time-slot, which has pushed up the numbers for its lead-ins, notes Diane Patenaude, account director at Carat Sponsorship in Montreal.

‘In general, it’s been a really good year here with nice surprises and a good mix of different kinds of shows,’ says Patenaude.

SRC has also shaken up Sundays, traditionally a movie night for most Quebec casters, by moving Guy LePage’s hit talk show Tout le monde en parle to the 8 p.m. slot. According to BBM, in the first week of January, Tout le monde pulled in the week’s second biggest ratings at just over 1.72 million viewers.

The network’s Wednesday night schedule has been challenged by TVA recently, but held its ground thanks in part to Minuit, le soir, the 9:30 p.m. dramedy about Montreal nightlife, and its returning hit Les Bougon, on at 9 p.m. Les Bougon – about a family of welfare cheats – is the ‘it’ show for French-Canadian comedies, says Patenaude, and in January was the top-rated show in the province, solidifying the net’s position in the market with seven of the top 10 shows.

Of the season’s new shows, TQS looks to have two strong performers. S.O.S. Beauté, a new makeover show that bowed Jan. 30, could play well with female demos just as Casting, about university students developing a TV show, stands to click with young adults.

TQS has seen good results from its Wednesday night lineup as well, which features C’est mon show and popular Hollywood movies leading the network to an average share of 11.5.

A version of this article appeared in Media in Canada.

-www.radio-canada.ca

-tva.canoe.com

-www.tqs.ca