24-Hour Livestream of Newborn Puppies Becomes a TV Smash Hit in Finland, Drawing Millions of Viewers

A 24-hour Finnish television show devoted entirely to a dog and her six newborn puppies is drawing millions of viewers. Called Pentulive, or Puppy Live, the programme has become one of the biggest hits on television in the country.

Alongside a 24-hour webcam, the show includes live evening chat sessions with the dogs' breeder, a podcast and an instant notification service updating followers on the puppies' progress — from their birth to weigh-ins and first nail trims — for eight weeks.

This is the sixth season of the hit show by the broadcaster Yle, and the latest contribution to the growing Nordic cultural phenomenon of 'slow TV'.

The trend started in Norway in 2009 with Bergensbanen, a seven-hour train journey broadcast on NRK, and was followed by SVT's The Great Moose Migration in Sweden, featuring unnarrated glimpses of moose making their annual journey to summer grazing grounds.

Pentulive has long attracted interest outside Finland, but this year it is also being broadcast in Sweden under the name Valparna live. Yle recently announced it had also sold the format to a broadcaster in the Netherlands.

Ville Alijoki, editorial manager of Yle's factual journalism, said: 'There's a certain magic to it, something that people miss when this world is sometimes quite dark.'

On Saturday, the lagotto romagnolo puppies — four male and two female — will mark their two-week birthday by being officially named after a vote by viewers. Among the nominations were Martha, Timo, Ronja and Dante.

In mid-December the puppies will leave their mother, Hilkka, and be adopted by new families, bringing the eight-week broadcast to its conclusion as they begin their new lives.

In the first two weeks of their lives, this year's puppies have attracted millions of views online and on social media. Fans say the puppies offer a relaxing break from work and comfort from stress, loneliness and illness.

Pentulive's success raises again the question of why this slow, unnarrated, everyday style of broadcasting draws so many people. Finland's experience suggests that amid fast-moving news and excitement, audience appetite for calm, continuous scenes is growing.