'It's strangely gripping': Swedish slow TV fans ready for live stream of moose migration

A wide Nordic river, melting snow still lining its banks, meanders peacefully through a pristine forest of spruce and pine.

- Jon Henley

And this spring, as every spring for the past six years, millions of people will be watching it, waiting and hoping for something to happen.

When Den stora älgvandringen – variously translated as The Great Moose Migration or The Great Elk Trek – first aired on the public broadcaster SVT's on-demand platform in 2019, nearly 1 million people tuned in. Last year, it was 9 million.

This year, who knows? Given the state of the world, a three-week round-the-clock live stream of a few hundred moose gingerly crossing the Ångerman River in northern Sweden to reach their summer pastures could be just what viewers need.

The show's latest edition launched a full week early yesterday because of warmer than usual spring weather. "There are a lot of moose about," the producer Stefan Edlund told SVT. "They're waiting for us. We've had to adjust. But it should be OK."