Epic Svalbard Slow TV arriving 31st January

NRK's Svalbard Slow TV Project
(stock photo)

NRK's record-breaking five day Slow TV broadcast aboard Hurtigruten will be well and truly smashed this year as the Norwegian state broadcaster airs a new project, starting on 31st January, finishing (we reckon) on 9th February, which is the centenary of the Svalbard Treaty.

Svalbard Minutt for Minutt (Minute by Minute) was filmed in August 2019 but NOT transmitted live, owing to significant issues with the signal. NRK usually finds a way to work around these issues, such as triangulating signals with staff on nearby mountain tops to get the signal out of fjords and topography which blocks signals from the ground. 

As an idea in gestation since 2011, you can be sure it's been thought around and researched - so instead of a live play out, the recording will be broadcast continuously over nine days, starting 31st January 2020, ending to mark the centenary of the signing of The Svalbard's Treaty, eventually incorporating it into Norway.

With the midnight sun still giving 24 hours of working light each day at the time of recording there should be a glorious glow for a sustained 'golden hour' sunset vibe for several hours each night.

Around 25 staff from NRK were involved in the production, estimated to run at nine days, six hours and five minutes. Multiple cameras were installed on MS Spitsbergen, one of the tour ships of the ferry operator, Hurtigruten. Hopefully the modified bough-cam with a rotating point-of-view will made a reappearance (last seen in Hurtigruten Minutt for Minutt). Drone footage will give spectacular views; all making for a multi-camera, dynamic experience but still a Slow TV journey around the entirety of Svalbard.

The documentary - "That Damned Cow - Just What is Norwegian Slow TV?" is available to watch in full on Facebook Video now.

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