Air Canada passengers have access to hundreds of television series and documentaries during their flight. But Quebec television content can be counted on one hand. Furthermore, among the range of American programs acquired by the largest airline, very few are also offered in French.

Air Canada has nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to its selection of Quebec movies. Passengers can watch almost every major feature film released in the last year during their trip, such as: Arlette, vanishing lines or viking. However, this does not apply to the offer of fictional series, reality TV, documentaries and other variety shows.

Of nearly 200 television content items offered onboard this month, only five feature Quebec productions. Below: the youth program Agent John, the latest Jean-Marc Parent television special and the recording of the music show Super Franco Fête. Join in The jokes of Just for Laughs, a concept that has the particularity of being silent, and the documentary that represents a niche Baghdad twist by Montreal director Joe Balass, a 2008 short film in English with French subtitles.

In short, the offer seems quite limited compared to the considerable choice of American series at the moment, white lotus in the first season of successorpass yellowstone or Chernobyl. Air Canada also has a catalog full of popular reality shows, such as Keeping up with the Kardashians and cooking competition top chef.

“We are constantly vigilant about our offering of French language content, including content from Quebec and Canada. With that in mind, we are currently in the process of evaluating the options available to us,” Air Canada responded via email.

The airline, which turned down our interview request, is proud to offer its passengers a range of French-language content “unparalleled in the country”. To back up its claims, Air Canada recalls that some of its aircraft are now equipped with live television. And among the six channels that can be seen on the air at the same time are two French-speaking channels: LCN and RDI.

Partnerships with platforms

While Air Canada managed to reach an agreement with a non-stop news channel and a sports channel, the company has not ratified a partnership with any of Quebec’s entertainment platforms, hence the large imbalance between offering English and French language television content. For example, the airline enjoys agreements with the American HBO Max and the British BritBox, which have enabled it to acquire an impressive catalog of series and television programs in English, for which there are often no subtitles or translations.

Air Canada also has an agreement with Canadian video-on-demand service Crave, which usually offers productions in both languages. However, the content published by the platform is almost entirely in English. “There are many factors that go into these decisions, including royalties, which depend on whether the content is live, English or French,” explains Bell, who owns Crave.

ICI Tou.tv dismisses the idea of ​​a partnership with Air Canada but says it is negotiating “project by project” with the airline. New arrivals from the ICI Tou.tv catalog are scheduled for the month of May.

Worse than Transat

Despite these additions, Quebec content offerings on Air Canada flights will remain significantly below Transat’s. The two airlines have made essentially the same acquisitions of Quebec movies in recent months. But for TV shows, it’s a different story. While choice is anemic for Air Canada passengers, those traveling on Transat can see hit Quebec series likeBefore the crash, The honorable or conversations with my parents.

As for foreign series and films, Transat has a much less diversified catalog than its main competitor. However, the French-translated versions are legion aboard the Quebec airline, which is not as financially sound as Air Canada.

“What Transat pays for a film compared to Air Canada is very little. It’s about the fifth. And you should know that even at Air Canada we are not talking about large amounts. Above all, it gives the films an interesting visibility,” says producer and distributor Christian Larouche, who sold some of his films to the two airlines over the past year. When he’s not able to comment on TV, he’s more likely to say at the movies that he’s been observing a serious interest in Quebec feature films at Air Canada for a number of years.

Nothing obliges the former governmental entity to acquire Quebec content. In-flight entertainment is not regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Therefore, carriers are not required to offer a minimum amount of Canadian content or French language productions.

To see in the video