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Fast is a thing of the past, today slow is in fashion! The fascinating phenomenon of slow TV has emerged in Norway on the wave of interest in the slow lifestyle. Unhurried television, in Norwegian sakte-TV is, as Wikipedia puts it nicely, a television celebrating the passage of time.
Slow TV is a definition of a television program broadcasting a selected event in its entirety. These broadcasts are often very long; they can be hours or even days or months!
Slow TV gives us the unique impression of participating in an event in real time, without accelerations, shortcuts or cuts. Watching slow TV draws you in, calms you down, even hypnotizes … Some programs don’t have any narrative at all and only a fascinating image reigns. In others, there are presenters, interviews with different people, and the music changes in the background.
The beginnings of sakte-TV
The Norwegian state television NRK is considered a pioneer of slow TV. Wanting to break with the insane pace of commercial stations, she decided to teach viewers to enjoy the passing time.
Since 2009, NRK has produced a large number of leisurely television programs that have achieved extremely high viewership. The popularity of this type of entertainment is evidenced by the fact that in 2013 the expression sakte-TV was proclaimed the Word of the Year in Norway.
What will we see on slow-TV?
To understand more about the idea of unhurried television, we will give you some examples of the most popular broadcasts.
2009 – Bergensbanen minutt for minutt (Berge Railway Minute by Minute) – over seven-hour film showing a fairy-tale journey by train from Bergen to Oslo, produced on the occasion of the centenary of the railway opening.
2011 – Hurtigruten minutt for minut (Hurtigruten minute by minute) – a 134-hour film showing the route of Norway’s most famous cruise ship Hurtigruten from Bergen in the west to Kirkenes in the north of Norway. This program has been entered in the Guinness Book of Records.
2013 – Nasjonal vedkveld (National Fireplace Evening) – 12-hour broadcast showing a fireplace with a fire on. The broadcast of this “event” gathered around a million viewers in front of the receivers!
2013 – Nasjonal strikkekveld (National Knitting Evening) – 8-hour video of sheep being sheared and then knitted into a sweater from its wool.
2014 – Piip-show – for three months you could observe birds and other animals (mainly tits, sparrows, bullfinches and squirrels) using a feeder arranged like a cafe.
2017 – Reinflytting minutt for minutt (Reindeer Migration Minute By Minute) – 10-day NRK Sapmi-produced transmission of reindeer herd wandering from winter pastures to Finnmarksvidda to summer pastures to Kvaløya.
2020 – Svalbard minutt for minut (Spitsbergen minute by minute) – this is the last NRK production so far, where we were able to follow the Hurtigruten around Spitsbergen on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Spitsbergen Treaty. This unique journey north took over 9 days.
Why do Norwegians like slow TV?
All slow TV broadcasts, although they relate to very different events or situations, have one thing in common: they show elements important for Norwegian identity. One of the favorite things to do in Norway is to constantly dwell on, which is typically Norwegian ( typisk norsk ). Certainly, such things as a nice time in front of the fireplace certainly fall into this category (we write more about this in the text about Norwegian hygge, i.e. å kose seg ) , knitting or the spectacular Norwegian landscape to be admired while traveling by boat or rail. Sakte tv gives Norwegians the opportunity to celebrate what is especially dear to them.
Sakte-TV inspires
The concept of slow TV continues to fascinate, gains international fame and inspires. BBC television has produced several programs under the concept of unhurried television called: BBC4 Goes Slow. And we are already looking forward to the next edition of Norwegian sakte-TV! I wonder what they will show us now… What do you think it will be?
