Before Swedish slow TV hit 鈥淭he Great Moose Migration鈥� began airing Tuesday, Ulla Malmgren stocked up on coffee and prepared meals so she doesn't miss a moment of the 20-day, 24-hour event.
鈥淪leep? Forget it. I don鈥檛 sleep,鈥� she said.
Malmgren, 62, isn't alone. The show, called 鈥� 鈥� in Swedish, and sometimes translated as 鈥淭he Great Elk Trek鈥� in English, began in 2019 with nearly a million people watching. In 2024, the production hit 9 million viewers on SVT Play, the streaming platform for national broadcaster SVT.
The livestream kicked off a week ahead of schedule due to warm weather and early moose movement. Malmgren was ready.
From now until May 4, the livestream's remote cameras will capture as they swim across the 脜ngerman River, some 300 kilometers (187 miles) northwest of Stockholm, in the annual spring migration toward summer grazing pastures.
Not much happens for hours at a time, and fans say that's the beauty of it.
鈥淚 feel relaxed, but at the same time I鈥檓 like, 鈥極h, there鈥檚 a moose. Oh, what if there鈥檚 a moose? I can鈥檛 go to the toilet!鈥欌�� said William Garp Liljefors, 20, who has collected more than 150 moose plush toys since 2020.
Slow TV success
鈥淭he Great Moose Migration" is part of a trend that began in 2009 with Norwegian public broadcaster NRK's minute-by-minute airing of a seven-hour train trip across the southern part of the country.
The slow TV style of programming has spread, with productions in the United Kingdom, China and elsewhere. , for example, installed a 鈥� 鈥� on a river lock that lets livestream viewers alert authorities to fish being held up as they migrate to spawning grounds.
Annette Hill, a professor of media and communications at J枚nk枚ping University in Sweden, said slow TV has roots in reality television but lacks the staging and therefore feels more authentic for viewers. The productions allow the audience to relax and watch the journey unfold.
鈥淚t became, in a strange way, gripping because nothing catastrophic is happening, nothing spectacular is happening," she said. "But something very beautiful is happening in that minute-by-minute moment.鈥�
As an expert and a fan of 鈥淭he Great Moose Migration,鈥� Hill said the livestream helps her slow down her day by following the natural rhythms of spring.
鈥淭his is definitely a moment to have a calm, atmospheric setting in my own home, and I really appreciate it,鈥� she said.
Nature in your living room
The calming effect extends to the crew, according to Johan Erhag, SVT's project manager for 鈥淭he Great Moose Migration.鈥�
鈥淓veryone who works with it goes down in their normal stress,鈥� he said.
The moose have walked the route for thousands of years, making it easy for the crew to know where to lay some 20,000 meters (almost 12 miles) of cable and position 26 remote cameras and seven night cameras. A drone is also used.
The crew of up to 15 people works out of SVT鈥檚 control room in Ume氓, producing the show at a distance to avoid interfering with the migration.
SVT won't say how much the production costs, but Erhag said it's cheap when accounting for the 506 hours of footage aired last year.
Erhag said Swedes have always been fascinated by the roughly 300,000 moose roaming in their woods. The Scandinavian country's largest animal is known as 鈥淜ing of the Forest.鈥� A bull moose can reach 210 centimeters (6 feet 10 inches) at shoulder height and weigh 450 kilograms (992 pounds).
Despite their size, are typically shy and solitary.
鈥淲e actually don鈥檛 see it very often. You often see it when you鈥檙e out driving maybe once or twice in your life,鈥� Erhag said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 one thing why it has been so, so popular. And then you bring in the nature to everyone鈥檚 living room."
Hanna Sandberg, 36, first began watching the show in 2019, though she didn't spot any moose. She tuned in the following year, finally saw some and got hooked.
鈥淵ou can watch them and be a part of their natural habitat in a way that you could never be otherwise,鈥� she said.
Moose mega-fans
After hours of showing an empty forest, a camera captures footage of a moose approaching the riverbank. Suddenly, slow TV turns urgent.
The push alert hits SVT's app 鈥� 鈥淔枚rsta 盲lgarna i bild!鈥� which translates to 鈥淔irst moose on camera!鈥� 鈥� as viewers worldwide tune in. The livestream's chat explodes as commenters type encouragement for the animal, now making its way into the water.
鈥滻 would actually like to be a little fly on the wall in every household that watches the moose migration. Because I think there is about a million people saying about the same thing: 鈥楪o on! Yes, you can do it!鈥�" Malmgren said.
Mega-fans like Malmgren, who is in a Facebook group of 76,000-plus viewers, are committed to watching as many hours as possible. Some viewers on Tuesday posted photos of their dogs and cats staring at their televisions, enthralled by the moose on the screen.
鈥淚 was late to school because I saw moose and my teacher was like, 鈥榃hat, you saw moose in the city?鈥� And I was like, 鈥楴o, it鈥檚 on the TV,鈥欌�� Garp Liljefors said ahead of Tuesday's showing.
Malmgren said friends and family have learned not to bother her when the moose are on the move.
鈥淲hen someone asks me, 鈥榃hat are you doing? Oh, never mind, it鈥檚 the great migration,鈥�" she said. "They know.鈥�
Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press
