Quebec television content struggles to gain traction among young people

A person browses a television menu showing icons for streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime in a photo illustration on Friday, March 22, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini)

Quebec television content is struggling to find its place in a media landscape where streaming platforms are multiplying, particularly with young people.

Among those who watch TV, less than one in four (23 per cent) watch mainly Quebec content.

That’s according to the Quebec Survey on Cultural Leisure and Entertainment, conducted among 16,000 people aged 15 and over in 2024 and released by the Quebec Statistics Institute (ISQ) on Monday.

The survey finds that the younger the viewers, the less Quebec content they consume.

Only 14 per cent of people aged 30 to 44 watch mainly Quebec content, a proportion that drops to eight per cent among 15- to 29-year-olds.

However, the ISQ reports that almost everyone (97 per cent) watches television content in the province, when all distribution modes are factored in.

Quebec digital streaming platforms aren’t the most popular, either.

The ISQ survey specifies that 73 per cent of people live in a household with a subscription to a non-Quebec streaming platform, compared to 28 per cent with a Quebec platform.

Traditional television still plays an important role, with 67 per cent of people subscribing to it.

The music landscape is similar to that of television, with 40.8 per cent of people who listen to music choosing mainly non-Quebec artists.

The trend is once again more pronounced among younger people: 69 per cent of 15- to 29-year-olds and 50 per cent of 30- to 44-year-olds listen mainly to music by non-Quebec artists, according to the ISQ.

In fact, 57 per cent of 15- to 29-year-olds listen mainly to songs in English.

In the literary field, 37 per cent of readers in the province say they mainly read books by non-Quebec authors, compared to 18.2 per cent who say they mainly read books by Quebec authors.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 11, 2025.