SVT’s recipe for slow TV – how a slow-paced nature program became a popular success

An uncommented nature program broadcasted live to show elks crossing the Ångerman River. That is the pitch of “The Great Elk Trek”, a TV program which SVT, the Swedish public television, launched in 2019. What started as a bet became a cultural phenomenon. The Fix looked at how the program became successful and gathered a fan community that even goes beyond Scandinavia.

A production out of the ordinary

Since 2019, when spring comes it’s the same procedure as every year for Swedish SVT: For three weeks, from mid April to early May, the nature program “The Great Elk Trek” steals the show. Every day, the program is live streamed on SVT Play, the channel’s streaming platform, where the fans can join the dedicated community chat. 

In reality, the concept behind the show is quite low key: Broadcasted from Kullberg in Northeastern Sweden, the completely uncommented programme follows elks as they wander and forage, highlighting Swedish nature and wildlife. 

According to Stefan Edlund, the producer, this is exactly what explains the success behind it: “The Great Elk Trek is much more than elks, it’s Swedish nature deluxe!”. When The Fix reached him in late May, this year’s edition of the program had just come to an end, and he was resting in his summer cottage in Northern Sweden, while preparing for his next project. 

Despite the simplicity of the concept, broadcasting an uncommented nature program requires a lot of preparation, including 32 cameras and 36 microphones which are automated to follow the elks. It is also more challenging than it sounds, as Edlund points out: “It’s a complex production, with different types of challenges: Weather conditions, which can make it hard to film outdoors, graphic challenges when you broadcast to three countries at the same time, because everything can go wrong, and even human factors, since people want to visit the production area.”

These special work conditions require creativity, which turns out to be a great opportunity for SVT to try out new techniques, since there is a lot of time to prepare, test new things and adapt. For instance, the production team has developed its own systems using solar panels, so that the production areas are autonomous in energy. “We can be innovative” notes Stefan Edlund. “This year, we had a new broadcasting system, with new sources connected to the control room. We tried it out, it crashed, so we improved the technique as we went.”

As a producer, Stefan Edlund’s role is particularly important, which means that during the four weeks when the program is broadcasted, he works almost day and night. A typical work day for him starts at 4 am, when he wakes up and starts by looking at the night footage, but also what viewers posted on the community chat. From that moment on, he works as long as his eyes stay open. As he acknowledges, “I am not a typical producer, because I can use my own experiences: For instance, on top of the technical side of the job, I can sail a boat and drive the scooter. I am on the production set at all times, and can fix things if something goes wrong. It’s a stimulating combination for me.”

How it all started 

Over the years, The Great Elk Trek became a popular program, with a viewer base that is growing from year to year. 2024 was the best year to date, with 9 million starters, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year. Moreover, during 504 hours of live coverage, viewers have seen 87 swimming moose, as well as lynx and bears.

This success wasn’t written in the stars, and convincing SVT to produce the programme was a challenge of its own. “Nothing like this had been done before: A live TV program only showing nature, without any comments or music, for the viewers to watch and experience together.” explains Stefan Edlund. 

While he had worked on other nature programs in Northern Sweden before, the inspiration for The Great Elk Trek came from Norway, where the public television NRK had been experimenting with slow TV since 2009, when The Bergen Line, a train ride, was broadcasted minute by minute. Stefan Edlund and his colleagues got the opportunity to take on a study trip to Northern Norway where NRK was shooting a slow TV documentary. 

As a matter of fact, the whole project has been a Nordic cooperation from the start: Nordvision, a collaboration between Swedish SVT, Danish DR, Norwegian NRK and Finnish YLE financed the production of a pilot, which ultimately convinced SVT to produce the show. This work paid off, not only because the Great Elk Trek found its audience, but also because it won a TV Award in the category of Innovator of the Year in the year after its first broadcast. 

Community building at the core

Since 2019, the concept has remained the same, both in terms of content and visual design. For Stefan Edlund, it’s a strategic decision: “It’s a conscious choice to keep the design minimalist, instead of adding more lights and graphics. Everything is broadcasted live, nothing is edited. If an elk dies, then it dies, because that’s also part of wildlife in nature.”

That is why community building and mediation have been two pillars in the development strategy of the program. The production team realised early on how crucial it was to reach out to the viewers and be transparent. 

Different approaches were combined: SVT started an “elk chat” where viewers can comment on the broadcast live, and a collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences initiated to answer their questions. A Facebook group launched at the same time as the program went from 5,000 to 23,000 members over the year, suggesting the program has found its audience.

When asked about his vision for the program, Stefan Edlund is not in doubt: “I want this show to be an open window, something you can have in the background at work, or something you watch during a coffee break, where you get a front row seat. It’s about experiencing it and taking it in, because many people have lost contact with nature. It’s unique footage we share, something nobody has seen before – Because even if you are a researcher, it’s hard to spot and come close to the elks.”

What’s next

Given the success of the program, it seems that the Great Elk Trek is here to stay. This year’s edition was broadcasted in both Finland and Germany as well, and SVT already announced the program is coming back next year. 

Stefan Edlund enjoys this popular success, but knows that it’s mainly due to the public: “Nature invites us to a show each year, so we don’t know what next year will look like, but I hope the audience enjoys variation, so that the program can go on for many years.”

He is also already focused on the future of the show, and aims at reaching an even higher quality, with sharper images and crisper sound to create an all around experience, and show even more animals.

His advice to the colleagues who might be interested in working with nature programs and slow TV? “You never know what might happen, the next minute might be absolutely unique. The most challenging part is having a dramaturgy, because just setting up the cameras and filming is not enough, you need some storytelling that creates suspense. And most of all, you need good timing, because it’s what creates impact.” 

Source of the cover photo: Brian Holdsworth via Unsplash

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