Millions of viewers are expected to tune in to one of TV’s unlikely hits over the next few weeks, as herds of moose make their annual spring migration toward summer grazing pastures.
Nine million people watched Sweden’s Great Moose Migration last year, despite not much happening for hours at a time.
From now until May 4, remote cameras track dozens of the animals as they swim across the Angerman River, some 187 miles northwest of Stockholm.
The 24-hour live stream began airing on Sweden’s national broadcaster SVT on Tuesday, a week ahead of schedule due to warm weather and early moose movement.
It’s a 20-day slow TV event that’s become a phenomenon, and its fans say the lack of action is one of the attractions.
Ulla Malmgren, 62, said she stocked up on coffee and prepared meals in advance so as not to miss a moment of the event.
“Sleep? Forget it. I don’t sleep,” she said.
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Nearly a million people watched some or all of its first year in 2019, rising to nine million in 2024.
Slow TV began in 2009 when Norwegian public broadcaster NRK showed a seven-hour train trip across the southern part of the country and it has since spread to the UK, China and elsewhere.
Annette Hill, a professor of media and communications at Jonkoping University in Sweden, said slow TV has roots in reality television but feels more authentic as unstaged productions allow the audience to relax and watch the journey unfold.
Professor Hill said viewers enjoy the show because “nothing catastrophic is happening, nothing spectacular is happening. But something very beautiful is happening in that minute-by-minute moment”.
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She called it a chance for her to have “a calm, atmospheric setting in my own home, and I really appreciate it”.
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Up to 15 SVT staff work on the broadcast and enjoy lower stress levels, according to project manager Johan Erhag, who said it’s cheap, given it delivered more than 500 hours of footage last year.
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The moose have walked the route for thousands of years, making it easy for the crew to know where to lay almost 12 miles of cable and position 26 remote cameras and seven night cameras. A drone is also used.
Around 300,000 of the typically shy and solitary herbivores live in Sweden’s woods.
The Scandinavian country’s largest animal is known as the ‘King of the Forest’. A bull moose can reach 6ft 10in at shoulder height and weigh 450kg (992lbs).
