Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK’s) groundbreaking “slow TV” program six years ago, which followed the entire journey of a train on the scenic route between Oslo and Bergen, has suddenly become a hit on board British Airways flights.
News bureau NTB reported this week how the airline included the program in its on-board entertainment programming last year. Now the airline has concluded that British Airways passengers have spent an average of 41 minutes watching the program.
The train route, called Bergensbanen, has often been ranked among the most scenic in the world. The entire trip takes around seven hours, and NRK’s decision in 2009 to film every minute of it from a variety of angles was a huge success in Norway that paved the way for more “minute-by-minute, slow-TV” programs, not least the week-long journey of a coastal voyage vessel.
“The Norwegian nature is undoubtedly an impressive sight,” Peter Rasmussen, who heads British Airways’ northern European operations, told NTB. “I was nonetheless surprised that several hundred airline passengers have chosen to watch hours of a train ride, especially since (the program) competed with hundreds of better-known programs on board.”
newsinenglish.no staff
