A Finnish 24-hour puppy show has attracted millions of viewers and become a television hit
Kyiv • UNN
The sixth season of Pentulive shows the lives of a dog and six puppies around the clock. In two weeks, the project was viewed by 1.85 million unique viewers.
A Finnish 24-hour TV show devoted entirely to the life of a dog and her six newborn puppies is attracting millions of viewers and has become a real hit, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.
Details
In addition to a 24-hour webcam, the "Pentulive" ("Puppies Live") project includes evening chats with the breeder, a podcast, and an instant notification system. Over the course of eight weeks, subscribers receive updates on the puppies’ lives: from the moment of their birth to weigh-ins and their first nail trimming.
This is already the sixth season of the popular show by the Yle broadcaster; it has become another example of the Scandinavian cultural phenomenon known as "slow television" (slow TV).
The trend originated in Norway in 2009 with the "Bergensbanen" project—a seven-hour broadcast of a train journey on the NRK channel. Later, Sweden saw the emergence of the show "Den stora älgvandringen" ("The Great Moose Migration") on the SVT channel, which shows moose from the north of the country setting off on their annual journey to their summer pastures, without any commentary.
"Pentulive" has long attracted interest beyond Finland, and this year the show is also being broadcast in Sweden (under the title "Valparna live"). Recently, Yle announced that it had sold the format to a broadcaster in the Netherlands.
Ville Aliijoki, head of the editorial department for documentary and factual programmes at Yle, says: "There is a certain magic to it—something people often lack in our world, which can sometimes be quite gloomy."
On Saturday, the Lagotto Romagnolo puppies—four boys and two girls—will turn two weeks old. To mark the occasion, there will be an official naming ceremony for names selected by viewers through a vote. The options include Marta, Timo, Ronja and Dante.
Photograph: Julia Kiiskinen/Yle/AP
In mid-December, the puppies will leave their mother, Hilkka, and move in with new families.
According to Yle, the current season of "Pentulive" has every chance of breaking previous viewing records. In the first two weeks alone, the broadcast was watched for more than 1 million hours, while the total number of unique viewers who followed the project’s various materials reached 1.85 million.
Fans say that watching the puppies helps them take their minds off work and also provides comfort during times of stress, loneliness or illness. Pirjo Koskinen, a science journalist who developed the concept for the "Pentulive" project (a live broadcast of the puppies’ lives) to tell viewers about the latest research on dogs and the importance of the first weeks of their lives, said that the show offers "an escape from the terrible events taking place in the world".
She says: "Wars, bombings, climate change, the loss of natural habitats—all of this causes anxiety in us. And watching a canine family allows us to take our minds off it, at least for a moment."
According to her, watching the mother dog and the breeder care for the puppies is like witnessing "an endless cycle of love and care".
"This is real life; we are touching its very foundations: the miracle of birth, growth and development. It is so touching to see the puppies open their eyes and take their first clumsy steps—and all of this is happening right now. It brings us joy and, over the course of eight weeks, also provides plenty of funny moments."