Netflix relies on humor to maintain its dominance in Quebec. The American giant has signed a three-year agreement with Just for Laughs to present three comedy shows in French.
The first special will be filmed later in 2023. The identities of the featured comedians have yet to be revealed.
In a statement, Netflix Canada’s director of content, Tara Woodbury, praised Quebec’s “incredible stand-up voices.” From Just for Laughs Group, Chief Content Officer Marina di Pancrazio said it was a partnership that would allow Quebec’s “rich comedic talent” to reach new audiences, both in Canada and abroad.
Netflix and Just for Laughs TV had previously collaborated. Last December, the platform uploaded Mathieu Dufour at the Bell Center, a show recorded in Montreal in July 2022.
Martin Matte is also part of the select club of Quebec stand-up comedians present on Netflix. In 2019, his show Eh la la..! (produced by Entourage) became the first of its kind to appear on the menu of the popular internet video-on-demand service.
Netflix still sits at the top of the list of paid digital platforms in Quebec. According to data from audience research firm GWI, collected in the third quarter of 2022 from French-Canadian Internet users aged 16 to 64, 57% of them had used Netflix in the previous month, far ahead of Disney. (30%), Prime Video (27%), ICI Tou.tv Extra (13%) and Club illico (10%). Overall, Netflix has 231 million paid subscriptions in over 190 countries.
For its part, Just for Laughs continues to extend its tentacles. In January, the Quebec company joined forces with giant Amazon to present four evenings of comedy on Prime Video. Entitled For one evening only, this series of carte blanche highlights Rachid Badouri, Mariana Mazza, Dominic Paquet and P-A Méthot.
