‘The Great Moose Migration': Sweden's Slow-TV Hit Captivates Millions

Forbes

17-04-2025

A moose rests in a sunny Swedish forest in a screenshot from live coverage of the animals' annual ... More migration.
The hottest reality show on Swedish television doesn't feature bickering housewives or shocking last-minute twists. It captures an entirely unscripted, unedited sight: moose in northern Sweden making their annual spring migration. And viewers can't get enough.
The Great Moose Migration is a 24-hour livestream of moose heading toward rich summer grazing pastures along routes they've traveled for several thousand years. I tuned in Thursday morning to spot several moose ambling through a sun-speckled forest. Sometimes they were barely visible through the tall trees. Other times, they stepped into full view, chilling unbothered on an open patch of forest floor. A meditative soundtrack plays in the background like something straight out of the Calm app.
The annual livestream of the migration — captured by remote and night cameras and drones — started airing in 2019, pulling in almost a million viewers. Viewer numbers swelled to 9 million last year, according to Sveriges Television, or SVT, Sweden's public television broadcaster.
This year's footage started airing Tuesday on the SVT platform SVT Play and will stream for 20 days, available to viewers around the globe. Once the stream ends, it will still be available on the SVT Play, alongside archived past migrations complete with transcripts of the delightfully enthusiastic viewer chats. The 2025 show arrived a week earlier than scheduled, due to warmer weather that has the animals (often called elk in Europe) crossing the Angerman River northwest of Stockholm earlier than usual.
Livestreams of animals have become immensely popular, perhaps as an antidote to our fast-paced, electronics-saturated lives. Earlier this year, viewers worldwide tuned in to watch bald eagle eggs hatch on a Big Bear live nest cam.
A public Facebook group whose name translates to 'We who like the great moose migration on SVT!' has nearly 80,000 members who share screenshots from The Great Moose Migration and even photos of their pets staring at the screen. The group's members ask questions and exchange information about moose behavior and share why they're so captivated by the sight of moose on the move.
'It's supposed to be slow TV, but sometimes you have your heart in your throat,' group member Annelie Katten Eriksson wrote.
Wrote =AZXMHNNFoTNrss1EkbGe3k8nmlVmhvuv5XUjufefQlEdjl_RmpVmVH2jhQobM1GKsBYqn935cKDMn5a5zByDytK6dJJcY6UQoz42JVoF8xxyfwp0Nl-xsf4IvWadguLFxekmxsf3un-bNSajlB1dZUUBqNwL1zi9j-YftfiTyAUM0bE8mwAascy4RRtCyF2fYRx-ufln8nx8--IXS-UD1wvm&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R">Cattis Nyman, 'I'm impressed with how they find where they're going. They know the smell of the others. Amazing animal.' The message appeared atop a screengrab of a single moose. 'Below is my friend Bosse,' Nyman wrote.
The Great Moose Migration takes viewers on an epic moose journey, but at times the livestream lingers beyond the animals themselves to train on their peaceful beauty of their natural surroundings: a stream running past a snowy bank or the rising sun piercing the early-morning darkness.
When the show first started airing, its producers worried those sorts of serene scenes might be the only ones their cameras would capture. A behind-the scenes episode flashes back to that tense beginning, when a week passed and cameras had only captured images of birds, silent woodlands and trees swaying in the wind. Executive producer Johan Erhag recalls the panicked calls from SVT execs wanting to know: 'When are they going to show up? Where are the moose?'
On the ground in Sweden with binoculars and from a control room in a lighthouse, the crew waited, and waited. Then, it finally came, the commotion of moose.
'It really sent your pulse racing,' producer Stefan Edlund said. 'It was insanely cool.'
Loyal viewers have had the same reaction as they watch the natural drama unfold on their screens. 'I love watching it,' one fan quoted in the behind-the-scenes episode says. 'It is like my equivalent of the Super Bowl.'
The Great Moose Migration may have have touchdowns or halftime shows, but for many, watching a stately animal strolling through the woods is must-see TV.