Sweden Is Glued to Peak 'Slow TV': Its Moose Migration

Before Swedish slow TV hit The Great Moose Migration 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. "Sleep? Forget it. I don't sleep," she told the AP. Malmgren, 62, isn't alone. The show, called Den stora älgvandringen in Swedish, and sometimes translated as The Great Elk Trek, 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 dozens of moose, typically shy and solitary, as they swim across the Ångerman River, 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. "I feel relaxed, but at the same time I'm like, 'Oh, there's a moose. Oh, what if there's a moose? I can't go to the toilet!'" said William Garp Liljefors, 20. The 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 UK, China, and elsewhere. It has roots in reality television but lacks the staging and therefore feels more authentic for viewers, says Annette Hill, a professor of media and communications at Sweden's Jönköping University. The productions allow the audience to relax and watch the journey unfold. "This is definitely a moment to have a calm, atmospheric setting in my own home, and I really appreciate it," says Hill. The calming effect extends to the crew, according to Johan Erhag, SVT's project manager for The Great Moose Migration. "Everyone who works with it goes down in their normal stress," he said. (More TV shows stories.)