Back in 2011 the Norwegian public service broadcasting company NRK broadcast live and non-stop the 134 hour long voyage of the cruise liner Hurtigruten, as it sailed around the Norwegian coastline. On the NRK website as well as watching the amazing live footage of the cruise you could also keep track of the position of the liner on a live real-time Google Map.
Slow television is the term used for these types of live 'marathon' television shows covering an ordinary event in its complete length. The Hurtigruten cruise wasn't the first 'slow television' broadcast by NRK (it had previously broadcast a number of films of complete train journeys). However the Hurtigruten broadcast in particular received a huge international following on the NRK website.
There is something extremely relaxing and meditative about most slow TV events. At a time when many of us are feeling more stressed and more confined than ever before I feel that watching slow TV can be an amazing way to unwind and adapt to the slower pace of life which Covid-19 is forcing upon so many of us.
If you need to relax then might I reccomend the Slow TV Map, a fantastic interactive map providing links to slow TV videos which have been filmed around the world. My smart TV is currently showing a ten hour hour long broadcast of a journey on the incredible Wuppertal Suspended Monorail in Germany. If suspended monorails aren't your cup of tea then you can use the Slow TV Map to discover calming videos of hikes in nature, beautiful car journeys, amazing train journeys, relaxing canal trips and aerial flights. The map even includes a filter control which allows you to filter the map to only show particular types of slow TV.
1 comment:
curious, I micked 2 sites: one in Cuba and the other in Jamaica.
None were right. The first was in fact a dashcam car ride between Santa Clara and SF in the USA, and the latter was a bushcraft video in the Italian Alps :)
I like the concept though
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