MONTREAL — If its early ratings are a sign, TVA’s version of Deal or No Deal looks to be Quebec’s most popular show for the 2006/07 season.

The first episode of the 20 x 60 Le Banquier, hosted by Quebec TV diva Julie Snyder, pulled in 1.91 million viewers on Jan. 21 and 1.98 million the next evening, according to TVA. ‘That’s nearly a 60% market share, which is incredible,’ says spokeswoman Nicole Tardif.

Produced by the network’s sister company JPL Productions and DOND‘s Dutch owners Endemol International, Le Banquier will be broadcast twice weekly for 10 weeks on TVA. Last fall’s top show in the province was the Big Brother-style Occupation Double, which pulled in an average of 1.7 million. (All ratings are 2+, province-wide.)

‘We knew people would like Le Banquier,’ says Tardif. ‘Quebecers love game shows. The Deal or No Deal format allows the audience to identify with the contestants, which is the key to attracting viewers in la belle province… They are real people, each with their own story.’

The Quebec version replicates the original concept, in which contestants seek a cash prize by choosing from among 26 suitcases. In Le Banquier, the top amount is only $500,000, nlike the US$1 million awarded south of the border.

The show’s popularity fits a recent viewing trend which has the producers of homegrown drama in Quebec worried: Audiences here appear to be turning away from indigenous drama. In the ’90s, dramas such as La Petite Vie and Les filles de Caleb attracted more than half of Canada’s French-speaking population. But most of Quebec’s post-millennial water cooler programs are superficial talk, reality and game shows, the concepts for which don’t even originate here.

One of Quebec TV’s most powerful producers, Fabienne Larouche (Les Bougon: C’est aussi ça la vie), believes the appetite for made-in-Quebec drama may be waning because there are fewer big-budget series on the province’s small screens. ‘We have to do more original, expensive series like 24 and Desperate Housewives. What you are seeing on Quebec TV right now are lots of téléroman déguisés,’ he says, soap operas that are disguised or souped up.

Larouche believes a show such as Le Banquier is successful because it has widespread popular appeal. ‘It’s a TV event. And Quebecers like that,’ he says.

Last fall the big TV event sweeping the province was the Sunday night ratings showdown between two adaptations of programs originally from France: Radio-Canada’s glitzy talk fest Tout le monde en parle, which drew on average 1.6 million viewers and the reality show Loft Story, which attracted around 1.2 million. In 2005/06 it was the Quebec version of American Idol, Star Academie which held the province rapt.

Now it’s Le Banquier, a concept that’s been sold to 39 countries around the world, including England, Italy and France. But according to TVA, Le Banquier is distinctly Quebecois — for one thing, it’s the first time the game show has been hosted by a woman.

Howie Mandel hosts the NBC hit, which pulls in 17 million viewers weekly, and was recently in his hometown of Toronto to shoot a five-ep run of an English-Canadian version, which debuted on Global after the Super Bowl to 2.7 million.