This undated photo, published by SVT, shows Moose in Junele, Sweden, during the preparations for the Livestream “ Migration of the great moose ” to document the annual migration of the moose near Kullberg in northern Sweden. (SVT via AP)
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The moose is again in motion.
Through Sweden, that is to say. The mammals began their annual migration in the small village of Kullberg, in the northern part of the country. And in recent years, they have had millions of eyes on them.
Migration of large moose is a live program 24 hours a day ranked like a “slow television”, which is live, not published and a cover of several hours of a routine event, generally with a theme or a trip to the mind.
Since 2019, the moose trip has been broadcast for several weeks each spring on SVT, the country’s public broadcasting service.
The blanket changes camera between the different wooded areas and the Ångerman river. A large part of the images is “without modes” – birds, trees and bear. But from time to time, woods take a look above the surface of the water or through the trees, and their six feet silhouettes emerge.
About a million people watched the mammals trek during the first year of the program. More than 9 million people looked around the world last year, and executive producer Johan Erhag told NPR that he expects the viewer to be even higher this year.
In a short documentary About the program, a rock musician interpreted a song on the moose, while a man gathered around television with children to watch.
“This is my Super Bowl equivalent,” said a fan of Moose. “It’s like rooting a sports team. I don’t look at sport, I don’t like sport. I like moose.”
A look at their way
From the end of April to the end of May, between 300 and 500 The moose migrating from their winter meeting place by Botnian Bay, until their summer – in the mountains near the Swedish -Nornaire border, said Göran Ericsson, dean of forest sciences from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
A moose in northern Sweden, where Kullberg is, migrate up to 56 miles, much longer than the moose in the south of Sweden, which migrates up to 6 miles, according to the university.
“In summer, they migrate to good places where they can be born of calves and good places where they can find good food,” said Ericsson.
They will finish their trip in about one to three weeks, just in time for the nutrients to ripen in the vegetation they love, which includes bilberries and Scottish pine, said Ericsson.
The climate also influences moose migration models. They are less inclined to leave their place if they live in areas with not as much snow, according to the university.
Over the years, the trip of the moose through the river has been affected by the development of roads and hydroelectric installations, which have created dams that decrease ice. Said Ericsson. “Because when we use electricity, we use more water, then the ice is thinner.”
How the program started
Migration of large moose The producers, Johan Erhag and Stefan Edlund, worked together in 2016 on a nature program which included a segment on the swimming of the moose.
During this recording, they filmed a few moose, but strongly relied on a handwritten log by the Swedish resident Irene Hägglund, who would count how many moose she had seen swimming through the river outside her house.
After a trip to Norway, Erhag and Edlund were inspired by various “Slow TV” productions produced by NRK, the Norway public broadcasting service, They said in the documentary. NRK’s ”Slow TV” programs captured cliff birds, a background train and knitting people.
Erhag and Edlund wanted to transform their moose segment into a kind of “TV” spin-off.
But it took a few years to convince the network. The leaders were not sold that the expectation of the moose march near a camera was fascinating in content, and a large part of the Moose Erhag and Edlund action promised that the network was based on the notes of Hägglund, the producers said.
They would need more sequences. So, they went and finally the network moved.
What attracts people on slow television?
Thomas Hellum is an NRK producer who helped launch his “Slow TV” movement with the cross-country train route 16 years ago.
“When we created slow television for the first time from the Bergen line in 2009, public reactions – and especially the number of viewers – were a big surprise. It was something new, something that had never been done before – at least not on the big television screen and in prime time,” he told NPR in an e -mail.
Since then, the Norwegian public broadcaster has created at least 30 other “slow television” programs, but they have never repeated it as SVT did with the moose.
“I really like what they have achieved in Sweden – establishing a tradition and an expectation among the public,” said Hellum.
Her theory on the reasons for which she has become so popular today is that it is a complete story that reflects reality.
“I think people appreciate it because everything is there,” said Hellum. “All the boring parts, all the exciting parts – all that could happen. There is no producer who has only selected the most exciting bits for you – in a way, you have to do it yourself. You must understand what is interesting and what is boring. Just like in life.”
In addition, it gives people a feeling of unity.
“This created a kind of community among those who looked at – as if we were all passengers on the same train, making the same trip, sharing the same point of view,” said Hellum.
