100 hours of chess with Magnus

Norway’s ‘slow-TV’: Next 100 hours of chess with Magnus Carlsen
By Anne Sewell
Nov 5, 2013 – 1 hour ago in Odd News

Due to the success they have had with recent “slow-TV” epics like a 12-hour prime-time show of a burning fireplace and a solid 13-hours of shearing and knitting, Norway’s NRK broadcaster has come up with its next slow epic.

It is now our pleasure to announce the very latest in NRK’s “slow-TV” programs and this time is it featuring a sport which is known to sometimes be a little slow, that sport being chess.

22-year-old chess prodigy and Norwegian chess grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen, is hoping to become the next world’s chess champion. For this reason NRK will broadcast 100 hours of coverage on Carlsen’s game on its top channel NRK1.

Starting this Saturday Carlsen will begin playing the reigning champion Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand in the Indian city of Chennai. This contest will reportedly continue over 19 days.Rune Haug, NRK’s head of sports said in a statement:

“It’s a little crazy to broadcast nearly 100 hours of chess on the country’s largest TV channel, but we think the Norwegian people would like to finally be able to follow Magnus Carlsen’s outstanding achievements up close.”

Referring to the recent “National Knitting Evening” which was on TV last Saturday, featuring 13 hours of non-stop knitting coverage, he said that “To broadcast so many hours of chess is a version of the new form of slow TV.”

Apparently Liv Mette Harboe, principal secretary of the Norwegian Chess Federation, is excited about the upcoming project, saying they had already noted an increased interest in Carlsen’s chess exploits and now expected a further boost in chess popularity across Norway as a result of the slow-TV program.

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com