So the genre started in the UK with Yule log burning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_log), then was popularised in Norway and perfected in Sweden. Might we expect the slow eastward migration to continue and for Finland to come up with the next masterpiece? The Finns are already somewhat notorious for going long stretches of time without speaking, after all.
Didn't Germany already do this ages ago? At night, they would broadcast various train trips[0]. I even recall there was a bit of a scandal when they cut out part of the trip through a tunnel, because the screen would be all black for too long.
[0] Just from a single camera at the front of the train, no further editing. I haven't seen the Norwegian and Swedish Slow TV yet, but I get the impression they use multiple cameras. The German version was super simple, but very relaxing in its simplicity.
The wikipedia link above has 2009 as the earliest date.
In Austria you would find random scenic train rides on TV whenever you would switch on the TV in the middle of the night at least from 2002 onward, if not earlier... And I don't think this started in Austria.
Yes, the train rides were in the night programme of ARD during the 90s [1]. Meanwhile, the other public German TV channel ZDF did the contrast program with a different mode of transportation: They had dash cam views of car rides [2].
We have slow TV for hawk nesting and seal sunbathing in Finland. Unfortunately the seals sunbathing location was figured out one year and they had to stop broadcasting it.
Not live TV per se, but a WWF web stream following ringed seals is hugely popular in Finland. The OG version is called Norppalive (https://wwf.fi/en/wildlive/saimaa-ringed-seal/), and it followed Saimaa ringed seals. This year's edition follows Baltic ringed seals (https://wwf.fi/en/wildlive/baltic-ringed-seal/). There may be hours of nothing happening at all, it's great.
When did the UK start broadcasting yule logs? In the United States it goes back to at least the mid 1960's, and possibly before. Stations in most large cities still air the show, though shorter now (1-3 hours) than before.
They're also the only national broadcaster I know of that devotes time to classical chess matches which typically last 4+ hours with one piece being moved ever few minutes. It helps that the world champion and best chess player is Norwegian, but slow TV may have made them more receptive.
And people love it. Last year at Boxing Day, 300 000-500 000 viewers in average, close to a million viewers overall [1] - that's ~20% of the population. And the popularity has been high for at least five years now, as it has started to become more of a tradition
Are the Scandinavians so bored that they find the dashcam of a train amusing?
When people are given good social security, food, healthcare, education and everything else, do they start to find life boring?
Update: I don't mean any offense to Scandinavians or anybody else.
Update 2: I'm not American, so please don't use the comment section to crap on Americans with the assumption that I'll be offended (and also think about what that reveals about you). This is hilarious.
Update 3: I now realise it's just one person who's doing all the aforementioned crapping (at the time of this update). Maybe that person is having a bad day.
This has nothing to do with Scandinavians, it's just a form of entertainment you apparently do not seem to enjoy.
There's plenty of this stuff. Go on Twitch and you'll find people playing very uneventful video games for hours, and people will hang around to watch it. There has even been sessions of watching grass grow or paint dry, and people watched it.
That's an odd take.
A lot of people just like having the TV or radio on in the background and this is a cheap and relaxing kind of content to fill that niche.
Actually, I never put on TV in the background. Either there's something I want to watch or there isn't, in which case I turn off the TV.
I sometimes keep music on in the background. But this is only if I actually feel like listening to music. For instance, I can drive for hours with no music on (and no, my car exhaust note isn't very exciting).
I don't put on TV in the background either, but the other typical use case of slow TV, watching for 15 or 30 minutes or even an hour to relax and decompress very much resonates with me. Just like I could spend an hour in front of a fireplace, just watching the flames. Nothing "boring" about that.
This is just trash honestly. Getting offended by what you perceived to be criticism by "the american boogeyman out to put down glorious europe" is not a reason for this mildly racist reply
European Union legislation mandates that all 27 member states must by law grant all employees a minimum of 4 weeks of paid vacation. (but yes, in practice, many offer more. one of the benefits of the EU, and of welfare states, is that there is a floor through which nobody should fall. the EU Working Time Directive is another thing for which I am grateful.)
Woah, the reaction you are getting is a bit insane. Some people cannot take any criticism of europe, even if your comment wasn't even actually critical at all. It's ironically starting to remind me of the super defensive americanism that was common a decade ago.
> When people are given good social security, food, healthcare, education and everything else, do they start to find life boring?
Given??
We work 40h a week and pay taxes.
Social security is not to live on forever, its temporary until you find a job.
If you are too sick, then yes you CAN get it forever.
Food? You think we are given food? We have supermarkets. Yes it is good quality as we have GOVERNMENTAL OVERSIGHT, unlike the USA where corporations are free to put raw pesticides in your Mcdonalds borgir.
Healthcare? - Yes paid for by taxes. Not given to us.
Education - Yes paid for by taxes. So that we can work, and pay taxes to fund it.
We BUILT this society.
You had your chance and choose to build a hellhole made of roads, cars and 70h workweeks.
"oooh but we do so much inovation!!!"
Sweden does too
SAAB, Ericsson, Spotify, Minecraft.
A nation of 10mil and we built our own jets and subs. Suck it.
On a technicality, if you start calling people 12, bored and possibly even lazy you shouldn't be asking to 'end the discussion' as if you suddenly have been granted the moral high ground.
GPs comment has plenty wrong with it but yours (multiple) does too.
We're (so far) free of the 70h workweeks, at least, but if you're trying to portray Sweden as somehow a car-free haven of environmentally-friendly cycling and walking along the lines of Denmark or The Netherlands, then you're really taking the blind nationalism too far...
> Sweden does too SAAB, Ericsson, Spotify, Minecraft. A nation of 10mil and we built our own jets and subs. Suck it.
...and here was me thinking this was a mild discussion about 'slow TV'...
Which country? "The average American works 34.4 hours per week, as of May 2019. For people between 25-54, the national average work week comes in at 40.5 hours."
> Are the Scandinavians so bored that they find the dashcam of a train amusing?
Or so at peace with life (knowing that we can get free healthcare and education if or when we need it) that we can find beauty in simple things, like moose migrating. ;-)
A sidenote: NRK has made many of these series available as torrents [1]; for example, you can find various resolutions or the same train route filmed at each season. It attracted some attention at the time: https://torrentfreak.com/norwegian-tv-launches-bittorrent-tr...
Train dashcam videos are an absolutely awesome way to chill and relax, it's almost meditative. Great way to spend a break at work, for example, and probably much better for one's mental health than almost all the crap that's on normal TV.
> Nah buddy I didn't even post when you did update 1 don't even try fam
1. I didn't mention your name anywhere, yet you got offended.
2. That's a lie. I made the update after you posted.
3. Look at all the comments around. You're the only one spreading hate here. The few other posts partly disagreeing with me are still civil and polite. So the point of my comment still stands.
Here in Czech Republic some of the most popular YouTube videos are tram dashcam compilations. Featuring exciting moments like "car is parked too far into the road and obstructs the tram, owner has to move it" and "tram rings bell at tourist unknowingly standing on the track".
Looking at the state of the world, I'm happy that that's often as much excitement as we need here.
I hadn't seen this kind of content before and was waiting for a while til I figured to skip forward and, by the 24th hour, the counter (which I figured must mean moose but it doesn't say) was still at zero zero zero.
I can see the appeal but the title is a bit unfortunate if you aren't already familiar with it.
There have been a few incidents on UK's BBC Springwatch where they've been watching birds that have been eaten/killed. Parental/sibling killing of chicks is pretty common.
Is this a covert op? Are we suposed to be looking for russian agents sneeking across the border? Drug smugglers? Slow tv? We might look at a trail camera for weeks without seeing anything. I dont understand.
A Møøse once bit my sister ... No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies
You know... it's kinda ironic when the humour of a British troupe that was so radically innovative is quoted over and over again to the point that most people recognize it.
Is like reheating a souffle, every time you do it, the taste gets more stale.
I was so fortunate to see that movie in a movie theatre when it came out, without knowing what to expect... And I miss that surprise so much...
I used to constantly have a webcam on from moosegarden.com just to have banckground moose lounging around. Sadly cam is gone but I recommend visiting them if you get a chance.
Maybe the Swiss are the pioneers of this format. Around 20 years ago, there used to be a multi-hour helicopter flyover of Switzerland broadcasted on National TV „SF1“ on certain mornings. Similar to this one: https://youtu.be/AX57EYPASDs . It was always nice to wait until you see your home area. Of course, truly 24 hours or multi-day is on another level.
Is there a tech angle to this submission? I'm not complaining or asking for one, but sampling the stream I wondered if there might be one that I failed to see: most of the time a random wildlife webcam would show a scene too boring even for slow TV, but if you have hundreds of them, some will likely have something interesting going on.
Continuously getting eyeballs on hundreds of streams to select one for the show would be incredibly expensive (the linked streams seem to be more condensed than a 24/7 selection?), but it would be the perfect ML playground: feedback is solved, viewer metrics has been an established field for half a century, wrong answers are zero cost and you could create something that simply did not exist before: real time wildlife where there's actually something to see. (or maybe almost realtime, because the human showrunner might decide to allow a few minutes of serenity from the ringbuffer before the action that triggered the detector walks into view, that would still be good enough for "today, at the current time of day")
I think having the view always be on something "interesting" would spoil what I personally find enjoyable about this stream. I've had this open in a little PIP window all day while I work. I enjoy the nature sounds and sometimes see a reindeer trot past or a bird, which is cool. And when a moose comes up it's all the more exciting, because it's a unique occurrence. Then you go to the chat and see other viewers excitedly post about how beautiful the moose is. I think if the stream showed something exciting all the time it would take something away from the flare of happiness when you see a moose or other interesting animal in-between the calming sounds of nature.
I completely agree! It's like the difference between fishing in a stocked pond versus wading a trout stream, between taking a whole afternoon to cook a meal from scratch versus getting fast food, or between watching a classic play and watching a Michael Bay movie... Yes, technology gives us the ability to remove all downtime and have only action all the time. But I don't think I'd want to.
Fast paced cuts to wherever the most action happens this second would certainly ruin it, but somehow I doubt that a true representation of how little happens in a single camera angle would be the answer. Setting the parameters for sighting rarity would still be a form of, well, creativity?
99 comments
[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 188 ms ] threadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_television
(Big hugs to all nations involved of course)
[0] Just from a single camera at the front of the train, no further editing. I haven't seen the Norwegian and Swedish Slow TV yet, but I get the impression they use multiple cameras. The German version was super simple, but very relaxing in its simplicity.
The wikipedia link above has 2009 as the earliest date.
In Austria you would find random scenic train rides on TV whenever you would switch on the TV in the middle of the night at least from 2002 onward, if not earlier... And I don't think this started in Austria.
[1] https://youtu.be/7ycjaWRnETU [2] https://youtu.be/2jI-Sn_X7x4?t=213
When did the UK start broadcasting yule logs? In the United States it goes back to at least the mid 1960's, and possibly before. Stations in most large cities still air the show, though shorter now (1-3 hours) than before.
https://www.youtube.com/c/RailCowGirl
Especially good if you love trains, and amazing scenery.
Freely available for those interested: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/sjakk
[1] https://kampanje.com/medier/2021/12/kvelden-for-kvelden-mist...
And I'm puzzled.
Are the Scandinavians so bored that they find the dashcam of a train amusing?
When people are given good social security, food, healthcare, education and everything else, do they start to find life boring?
Update: I don't mean any offense to Scandinavians or anybody else.
Update 2: I'm not American, so please don't use the comment section to crap on Americans with the assumption that I'll be offended (and also think about what that reveals about you). This is hilarious.
Update 3: I now realise it's just one person who's doing all the aforementioned crapping (at the time of this update). Maybe that person is having a bad day.
There's plenty of this stuff. Go on Twitch and you'll find people playing very uneventful video games for hours, and people will hang around to watch it. There has even been sessions of watching grass grow or paint dry, and people watched it.
Actually, I never put on TV in the background. Either there's something I want to watch or there isn't, in which case I turn off the TV.
I sometimes keep music on in the background. But this is only if I actually feel like listening to music. For instance, I can drive for hours with no music on (and no, my car exhaust note isn't very exciting).
Dont all americans have like 5 TVs on showing Fox News 24/7?
I think it's more of a nice background, that you keep on while doing something else (working, cooking, living in general), and sometimes check.
Same as a cozy fireplace, or a beautiful view from your window, or even a TV / radio left on whether someone listens to it or not
I'm not American. I'm not even Western. Infact I'm pretty far away from USA.
> Don't you have an 80h+ workweek to go back to?
40.
> And then maybe you can take 3 days off a year.
1 month. Which is probably less than what Europeans get, but I'm happy.
I live in a place where everyday can be surprising. It's a bit chaotic (thankfully no wars or anything), but I've learnt to enjoy it :)
Given??
We work 40h a week and pay taxes.
Social security is not to live on forever, its temporary until you find a job. If you are too sick, then yes you CAN get it forever.
Food? You think we are given food? We have supermarkets. Yes it is good quality as we have GOVERNMENTAL OVERSIGHT, unlike the USA where corporations are free to put raw pesticides in your Mcdonalds borgir.
Healthcare? - Yes paid for by taxes. Not given to us.
Education - Yes paid for by taxes. So that we can work, and pay taxes to fund it.
We BUILT this society. You had your chance and choose to build a hellhole made of roads, cars and 70h workweeks.
"oooh but we do so much inovation!!!" Sweden does too SAAB, Ericsson, Spotify, Minecraft. A nation of 10mil and we built our own jets and subs. Suck it.
In your culture do people typically crap on others and spread hate like you're doing here? Or is it just you?
I mean, seriously, what are you, 12?
Nice strawman argument, and ageism.
If you felt that I said your lot is lazy, that was a misunderstanding. A miscommunication.
For the record, I'll state it explicitly: I do not think people of Sweden (and the Scandinavians in general) are lazy.
There. I said it.
I have been as explicit as I possibly could, even though there's no reason for me to explain myself to a random rude person on the internet.
In my native language there's a saying that roughly translates to: don't climb up a ladder to get in the way of a bullet going across the sky.
I've committed this mistake.
Let's end this discussion.
GPs comment has plenty wrong with it but yours (multiple) does too.
We're (so far) free of the 70h workweeks, at least, but if you're trying to portray Sweden as somehow a car-free haven of environmentally-friendly cycling and walking along the lines of Denmark or The Netherlands, then you're really taking the blind nationalism too far...
> Sweden does too SAAB, Ericsson, Spotify, Minecraft. A nation of 10mil and we built our own jets and subs. Suck it.
...and here was me thinking this was a mild discussion about 'slow TV'...
Which country? "The average American works 34.4 hours per week, as of May 2019. For people between 25-54, the national average work week comes in at 40.5 hours."
Or so at peace with life (knowing that we can get free healthcare and education if or when we need it) that we can find beauty in simple things, like moose migrating. ;-)
I enjoy picking mushrooms and bow making.
* Along the coast: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/hurtigruten-minutt-for-minutt and https://tv.nrk.no/serie/svalbard-minutt-for-minutt and https://tv.nrk.no/serie/sommerskuta-minutt-for-minutt
* Train: https://tv.nrk.no/program/PRHO63004009
* Hiking: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/monsen-minutt-for-minutt and https://tv.nrk.no/serie/besseggen-minutt-for-minutt
* Driving: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/sommerbilen-minutt-for-minutt
* Singing: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/salmeboka-minutt-for-minutt
* The opera: https://tv.nrk.no/program/MKDE21000318
* Moving reindeers: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/reinflytting-minutt-for-minutt
[1] https://nrkbeta.no/bittorrent/
1. I didn't mention your name anywhere, yet you got offended.
2. That's a lie. I made the update after you posted.
3. Look at all the comments around. You're the only one spreading hate here. The few other posts partly disagreeing with me are still civil and polite. So the point of my comment still stands.
Looking at the state of the world, I'm happy that that's often as much excitement as we need here.
Also, twitch chat!
Slow is just enough energy for something to be happening: a video from a train is 'slow'.
Videos of nature, that's almost 'still' or almost, it's actually kind of a different experience.
I hadn't seen this kind of content before and was waiting for a while til I figured to skip forward and, by the 24th hour, the counter (which I figured must mean moose but it doesn't say) was still at zero zero zero.
I can see the appeal but the title is a bit unfortunate if you aren't already familiar with it.
Pic related:
https://imgs.search.brave.com/_-PBhLuSzgNHIjPEvJqWdDdQHIE6d3...
(Not based on a rigorous scientific survey. May not be accurate.)
And we do see nature and the moose!
Is like reheating a souffle, every time you do it, the taste gets more stale.
I was so fortunate to see that movie in a movie theatre when it came out, without knowing what to expect... And I miss that surprise so much...
Continuously getting eyeballs on hundreds of streams to select one for the show would be incredibly expensive (the linked streams seem to be more condensed than a 24/7 selection?), but it would be the perfect ML playground: feedback is solved, viewer metrics has been an established field for half a century, wrong answers are zero cost and you could create something that simply did not exist before: real time wildlife where there's actually something to see. (or maybe almost realtime, because the human showrunner might decide to allow a few minutes of serenity from the ringbuffer before the action that triggered the detector walks into view, that would still be good enough for "today, at the current time of day")
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
>How many cameras are there?
In total there are 7 night cameras, 26 remote cameras, 1 manual camera and 1 drone. All interconnected by 22,000 metres of cable via 15 hubs.
How many moose do you think get shot during hunting season in Sweden?
It is about 100k.
Neat little visualization https://www.svt.se/special/algjakten-i-siffror/