France, Oct. 5 -- In a world of blink-and-scroll social media clips, the "slow television" trend is turning the ordinary into a spectacle, inviting viewers to linger over hours ofunedited real life: a train inching through Norway's snowy mountains, a stag calling in the forest, a crackling fireplace on a loop. It's television that dares to be uneventful, and has audiences hooked.

For media historian Barbara Laborde, of France's Sorbonne Nouvelle University, the appeal lies in making viewers rethink how they experience time, in a media landscape that can be over-stimulating.

RFI: What is slow TV?

Barbara Laborde: Slow TV unfolds over long stretches of time, unlike most TV formats that are tightly scripted and cut to fit short slots. It ...