For thousands of years, moose have journeyed across rivers, maneuvered through thawing forests, and silently followed ancient trails to their summer pastures in northern Sweden. A 24-hour live stream granted millions of viewers a chance to witness every poised step of the journey. However, on Sunday night, the seventh season of Den stora älgvandringen (The Great Moose Migration, also known as The Great Elk Trek) concluded, after nearly three weeks of uninterrupted footage streamed via SVT Play, Sweden’s national broadcaster’s platform.
The Great Moose Migration has evolved from a niche public broadcasting experiment to a cultural phenomenon since its inception in 2019, attracting close to 9 million viewers in 2024. Johan Erhag, SVT’s project manager for the series, expressed satisfaction with the project and confirmed the team has captured 478 hours of footage using 26 remote cameras, seven night-vision ones, and a drone streaming non-stop footage since its launch on 15 April.
The season finale took place at 10pm local time on Sunday, with cameras documenting 70 moose (also known as European elk) making their spring crossing through Sweden’s Ångerman River – approximately 180 miles north of Stockholm. This event marks the culmination of Sweden’s growing interest in “slow TV,” a genre that gained popularity in 2009 when Norway’s NRK aired a real-time, seven-hour train journey.
The concept has since gained a cult following across Europe, with broadcasts showcasing extended formatted contents such as knitting marathons and sea voyages, along with a crackling fireplace stream that even topped Netflix’s UK charts on Boxing Day. Capitalizing on its increasing popularity, SVT has even sent out push notifications when the first moose is spotted, while a dedicated Facebook group with over 76,000 members shares sightings, screenshots, and speculation about the next occurrence.
Although official viewing figures for this year’s season have not yet been released, SVT has already confirmed that the moose will return next spring for an eighth edition.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/04/swedens-great-moose-migration-live-stream-ends-after-478-hours-viewing
