I was in front of my TV on the first day of broadcast of District 31 in September 2016, curious about this novelty signed by an author, Luc Dionne, who knows how to write hits. But integrating a daily show into my schedule seemed quite a challenge to me, so once the premiere was over, I decided to watch the episodes at the end of the week.
I quickly realized that this choice was untenable as the intrigues made people talk: there are limits to blocking your ears and sulking on social networks! So I started catching up on today’s episode before going to bed.
The impatience to follow the twists and turns of the story finally got the better of my delayed listening strategies: I found myself moving up my supper time in order to free myself to watch the show live. This also allowed me to feed my scholarly observations to a group on Messenger very aptly named « The mixed District 31 », composed of my sister, my cousin and myself.
Yes, it took three heads to unravel the plots, make connections and draw the conclusions that, in our opinion, were necessary! Alas, our overflowing imagination had to constantly bow before the discoveries of Luc Dionne, the man who knew how to keep more than 1.7 million viewers on the edge of their seat every evening.
Let us console ourselves, we were not the only ones to be foiled, as evidenced by the reactions of the many members of the Facebook groups created around the show.
It’s called a television phenomenon. Addicts eat it, people around them know the highlights of the series even without following it themselves, the media and social networks are full of references to this subject… In short, impossible to escape it. Someone who has never watched District 31 can still identify Commander Chiasson. He joins the big family of our collective imagination: Maman Plouffe, Alexis, les p’tites Jarry, Oscar Bellemare, Lola, Émilie Bordeleau, Rénald, Lulu, Damien, Marie Lamontagne… and Macaire!
District 31 added to the long list of programs that have marked the history of television in Quebec, splash to Unit 9Passing by The beautiful stories of the pays d’en haut, What a family !, Gable Street, Symphorien, Time for Peace, Throw and count, Rooms in town, Omerta (also by Luc Dionne), Caleb’s Daughters, Runaway, The little life…
The proliferation of screens prevents any accounting comparison of ratings: the most popular programs of the 1980s and 1990s attracted more than 3 million viewers. Given the competition, this is no longer possible today.
Nevertheless, general-interest television in Quebec is still able to create major events, which distinguishes it from many other national television stations. Whether the invitation is honored or not, everyone knows of its existence — the bye Bye end of the year are the best example. But it’s not just them.
On Sunday evenings, Quebec is divided into two camps: those who watch TVA varieties, whether Masked singersof Revolution or of star academy, with ratings that fluctuate from 1.4 to 1.7 million viewers, and those who opt for Everybody talks about it at Radio-Canada, whose audience represents more than one million people, or nearly four out of ten adult French-speaking Quebecers. It’s huge, it gets people talking beyond the audiences concerned, and from one season to another, it doesn’t let up.
Moreover, the number of general-interest television programs that reach one million viewers remains very high in Quebec. Last December, The Press compiled the ratings of the shows on the air in 2021 and arrived at 37 millionaire shows, all Quebec productions that ranged from series to varieties, including sports, galas… and press briefings by François Legault .
Compilations made by the Montreal Journal for previous years show for their part that there were 32 shows with more than one million viewers in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Despite the possibility of watching them on our time, at our pace and on the platform of our choice, so many of us follow « our programs » in the traditional way.
It must be said that waiting is in itself a pleasure, that some broadcasters are rediscovering by refraining from putting a new series online all at once. In addition to the talent of its author and its cast, the success of District 31 owes a lot to this ancestral art of the soap opera which can be summed up in a few words: see you tomorrow for the rest!
Knowing that many of us are waiting also nourishes a feeling of belonging that characterizes television viewing in Quebec. In the past, we watched a program as a family in the living room, and from one living room to another on the same street; today, the show is virtual but still present… and it is very tempting to join it.
Live listening has indeed been enriched by the possibility of exchanging with other enthusiasts, which makes you want to be there at the same time as the rest of the public. Sometimes the author of a series joins the group — Danielle Trottier accompanied the broadcast of each episode ofUnit 9 then All the life, reacting live to the comments of the viewers (in the feminine, since it was mainly them who expressed themselves!). Some animators and some actors also lend themselves to the exercise.
The small society that is Quebec favors this virtual intimacy, so familiar that slippages, however frequent on social networks, have no place there.
Familiarity is also an aspect that explains the popularity of Quebec television. I have already written it in a work devoted to Quebec: we like the police officers of District 31 because they are not superheroes but people like us, who eat their lunches before our eyes, make coffees, write reports and are subject to strict budgets. We recognize ourselves in it.
All this contributes to preserving the relevance of these televisual meetings which, despite what one may believe, still affect all sections of society. These last years, Revolution hooked the young people, Runaway was watched as a family, District 31 has reached men and Infoman continued to make 7 to 77 year olds laugh. And today like yesterday, the ladies of my age don’t miss the important series. From experience, they know very well that once the trouble of the last meeting with District 31another very Quebec television phenomenon, very generalist, which will have nothing to do with Netflix, will point the tip of its nose, shake up habits and make us collectively talk… without even seeing it coming!
#District #meeting
