Executives at Norway’s biggest television company, the NRK national broadcasting service, have work on their hands trying to figure out how to extend a recent string of broadcast hits that have drawn millions of viewers in this small Scandinavian nation to their TVs for many hours at a time.
What some may consider boring TV has struck a chord in Norway. The genre, known as slow television, features things like endless train rides, ferry rides and talk shows.
One idea currently on the table is to launch a live show in which experts knit while spectators sit in their living rooms eagerly awaiting the next stitch.
Another scheme is to produce a 24-hour-long program following construction workers building a digital-style clock out of wood, shuffling planks to match each passing minute.
When the time changes from 09:45 to 09:46, the crew turns the “5” into a “6.” When the clock strikes 10:00, the job is tougher as each digit needs to be reconfigured.
“That part of the show will actually be really exciting,” says Rune Moklebust, a programming executive at NRK.
Mr. Moklebust and his competitors keep one thing in mind. Norwegians love boring television. “If it feels a little too strange, then you’re definitely on the right path,” Mr. Moklebust says.
Read the whole story at Norway’s Hit Reality TV: 18 Hours of Swimming Salmon – WSJ.com.
