Beyond The Screen: Multilayered Restoration,Well-Being,and Shared Immersion in a Swedish Slow-TV Nature Broadcast / Más allá de la pantalla: restauración multinivel,bienestar e inmersión compartida en una emisión de Slow TV sueca

Themes Predictors

We performed binary logistic regressions (Python: statsmodels 0.12.2; SciPy 1.6.2) in order to assess whether individual characteristics predicted mentioning each of the seven themes. Each theme (0 = not mentioned, 1 = mentioned) was modelled separately as the dependent variable. Predictors were age (Age), gender (Gen), education (Edu), frequency of nature visits (FreqNat), ease of access to nature (AccNat), Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS), and environmental concern (EnvCon). Gender was recorded via the survey platform in multiple categories. For regression analyses, it was recoded as a binary variable (0 = female [reference], 1 = male) to model the contrast between women and men. The non-binary/other category represented a very small proportion of the sample and was therefore not included as a separate predictor in regression analyses to avoid unstable parameter estimates. Interaction terms (Age × EnvCon, FreqNat × AccNat) were included where theoretically justified. Model selection used likelihood-ratio tests and the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) to favour parsimony, defined as selecting the simplest model (fewest predictors) whose fit is comparable to more complex alternatives (Vandekerckhove et al., 2015).

Model diagnostics included Q–Q and residual-fitted plots, which indicated adequate fit, and variance inflation factors (all < 3) to check multicollinearity. Explained variance was summarised using Nagelkerke’s pseudo-R², which adjusts the Cox & Snell R² to allow a maximum value of 1. This rescaling facilitates interpretability on a 0–1 scale and is widely adopted in applied social science research (Bo et al., 2006).

We also performed chi-square tests to examine the association between motivation to watch DSÄ for relaxation/escapism and restoration outcomes, and between INS (recoded as below average vs above average) and restoration outcomes.

Thematic Analysis

Across the 2,011 survey responses, 81% (n = 1,630) included at least one of the seven identified themes, confirming their relevance and coverage. Most participants mentioned a single theme (49%), while a substantial proportion referred to two (23%) or more (9%) themes.

Co-Occurrence of Themes

A heatmap of theme co-occurrence (Figure 1) illustrates where multiple experiential themes were mentioned within the same responses. The strongest overlap occurs between Restoration and Sensory Immersion (113 responses), reflecting how calm and mental relief are often tied to the programme’s soundscape and visual qualities. Unpredictability and Format Appreciation also show substantial overlap (151 responses), indicating that live uncertainty is frequently described alongside the slow-TV structure. Social Engagement overlaps notably with Unpredictability (61 responses), suggesting that anticipation of live events is often framed in a shared social context. In contrast, Well-Being shows fewer overlaps, indicating that explicit expressions of happiness and joy were most often articulated as stand-alone remarks.

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Figure 1.

A heatmap of theme co-occurrence.

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics for key predictors are reported to contextualise the regression analyses. The age variable (coded in six brackets from 18–24 to 65+) was skewed towards older participants (M = 4.70, SD = 1.43). Frequency of nature visits was generally high, with respondents reporting regular contact (M = 1.89, SD = .91, scale 1–5). Ease of access to nature was rated as highly important (M = 4.37, SD = .64). Environmental concern was relatively low on the 1–5 scale (M = 1.65, SD = .89). The mean Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS) score was 5.26 (SD = 1.27) on a seven-point scale.

Theme Predictors

We examined the individual predictors of each thematic experience using separate binary logistic regression models, selecting the most parsimonious model in each case based on AIC and theoretical fit. All predictors were mean-centred, and robust standard errors were used (see Table 1 for details).

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Table 1.

Binary Logistic Regression Models Predicting Whether Each Coded Theme Was Mentioned in Viewers’ Free-Text Responses.

Predictor	β (estimate)	SE	z	p-value	Odds ratio
Unpredictability
Intercept	−1.089	.055	−19.88	< .001	.336
Age	−.172	.035	−4.93	< .001	.842
Gender	.187	.094	1.99	.046	1.205
FreqNat × AccNat	.159	.083	1.91	.056	1.173
Sensory Immersion
Intercept	−1.329	.058	−23.06	< .001	.265
Age	.245	.043	5.66	< .001	1.278
Gender	−.579	.133	−4.35	< .001	.56
FreqNat	.114	.064	1.77	.077	1.121
AccNat	.199	.098	2.04	.042	1.22
EnvCon	−.143	.068	−2.12	.034	.867
Age × EnvCon	−.090	.047	−1.93	.053	.914
Format Appreciation
Intercept	−1.429	.057	−25.01	< .001	.24
Age	−.062	.039	−1.57	.115	.94
Gender	−.213	.117	−1.81	.07	.808
Education	.068	.046	1.47	.142	1.07
EnvCon	−.193	.07	−2.74	.006	.825
Restoration
Intercept	−1.999	.398	−5.022	< .001	.135
Age	.141	.081	1.737	.024	1.151
EnvCon	.333	.192	1.738	.036	1.395
Age × EnvCon	−.084	.04	−2.074	.038	.919
Authenticity and Realness
Intercept	−1.446	.057	−25.22	< .001	.236
Education	.162	.045	3.6	< .001	1.176
INS	.107	.047	2.28	.022	1.113
Social Engagement
Intercept	−1.969	.07	−28.12	< .001	.14
Age	−.248	.043	−5.70	< .001	.78
Gender	−.337	.146	−2.32	.021	.714

Note. Dependent variables coded 0 = not mentioned, 1 = mentioned. β represents log-odds estimates; odds ratio = exp(β). Age coded in six brackets (1 = 18–24 to 6 = 65+). Gender coded 0 = female (reference), 1 = male; positive coefficients indicate higher likelihood among men relative to women, and negative coefficients indicate higher likelihood among women. Education reflects ordinal educational attainment. FreqNat = frequency of nature visits; AccNat = perceived ease of access to nature; EnvCon = environmental concern; INS = Inclusion of Nature in Self. Interaction terms represent multiplicative effects between predictors.

A Pleasurable Tension of Waiting

Viewers frequently described DSÄ as an experience structured by what we might call ‘the thrill of maybe’. Long stretches of stillness were not interpreted as uneventful but as imbued with the possibility that something might happen: a moose emerging, a bird call piercing the silence, a change in the weather or on the river’s surface. This form of unpredictability may be central for some viewers, who described the stream as relational or even restorative. As Costikyan (2013) argues in the context of games, uncertainty is not merely tolerated: it is the very structure that makes an experience compelling and meaningful. In DSÄ, respondents often described unpredictability as prompting more attentive and engaged viewing, drawing them into a sense of co-presence with the landscape and wildlife. Crucially, this engagement is made possible by DSÄ’s temporal openness: its refusal to compress or edit time like conventional media do. By aligning with the slow rhythms of the environment rather than the pacing of a narrative arc, DSÄ’s format may foster a mode of alert receptivity that, for some viewers, could feel like inhabiting time differently (Couldry & Hepp, 2017). Rather than undermining immersion, the uncertainty of animal appearances was often described as heightening attentiveness and embodied anticipation. This quiet suspense resonates with what game design researchers term narrative anticipation, a forward-looking engagement that emerges when outcomes remain unknown but meaningful (Weech et al., 2020). Such experiential uncertainty, particularly when tied to subtle environmental cues, can foster cognitive investment and emotional engagement by inviting interpretation rather than scripting response (Power et al., 2019). In DSÄ, this possibility is ecological rather than engineered; it draws its power from the viewer’s shared dependence on time, weather, and the rhythms of more-than-human presence. It may be precisely this lack of narrative control, and the absence of scripting or guaranteed payoff, that renders the experience emotionally credible. In contrast to highly edited nature documentaries, DSÄ’s open-ended pacing supports what scholars describe as perceived authenticity, a key factor in fostering trust, attentional depth, and affective engagement in both media experiences (Rose & Wood, 2005) and restorative encounters with nature (Collado & Staats, 2016). This emotional investment was often described as emerging through waiting, watching, and attuning to the contingencies of a living landscape. The strong co-occurrence between Unpredictability and Format Appreciation indicates that DSÄ’s slow-TV structure is integral to sustaining this tension. By embedding viewers in a temporality that mirrors ecological rhythms, the programme may reinforce a sense of ‘being away’ and ‘soft fascination’ central to ART and SRT, while offering the suspense and attentional stability of a live event unfolding in real time.

Logistic models show that respondents with higher education and stronger nature connectedness (INS) were more likely to mention authenticity as an appealing or distinctive feature of DSÄ. This pattern suggests that credibility judgments may be shaped by both cognitive appraisal and identity resonance, particularly among viewers who see nature as part of the self. This finding directly addresses RQ3 by indicating that viewers with stronger nature connectedness may experience DSÄ not only as credible media but as a format that resonates with their embodied ways of perceiving and inhabiting the natural world (Clayton, 2003; Lumber et al., 2017). These findings should be interpreted as differences in expressed theme salience, not as differences in how much those themes ‘mattered’ to individuals.

In this sense, perceived authenticity is not only a feature of the stream but a co-construction shaped by viewers’ expectations, values, and sensory fluency in reading nature’s cues. This sensory immersion also correlates with frequency of nature experiences, indicating resonance between DSÄ and direct nature encounters.

Media Temporality as Ecological Pedagogy

By adopting the pace of ungulates and boreal spring, DSÄ invites viewers to recalibrate their sense of time, potentially countering algorithmic acceleration and digitally conditioned immediacy. As Odell (2019) argues, resisting the attention economy involves cultivating alternative modes of time rooted in relational presence and bioregional awareness. DSÄ’s slow unfolding may enact such a shift by reorienting viewers towards the durational rhythms of a living landscape, offering time not as a resource to optimise but as something to be shared with other beings. DSÄ can be understood as a form of temporal rewilding that nudges viewers towards perceptual modes attuned to seasonal shifts, quiet waiting, and a sense of deep time beyond digital immediacy. Such an ecological pedagogy of time cultivates patience, sustained attention, and tolerance for uncertainty, capacities increasingly recognised as foundational to ecological awareness and psychological restoration (Richardson et al., 2021). Slowness here can be read not as a lack of action but as a form of temporal ethics, inviting viewers to meet nature on its own terms rather than conforming it to human expectations. This resonates with Van Dooren’s (2014) reflections on the ethical importance of slowing down as a mode of multispecies attentiveness unfolding within ‘the rhythms and ways of life of others’ (p. 6). In his work on extinction and care, van Dooren links temporal deceleration to the possibility of being affected and entering deeper entanglements with the lives of other beings, a sensibility mirrored in DSÄ’s patient, open-ended temporality.

Mental Breathing Room

A substantial proportion of respondents mentioned experiences consistent with calm, clarity, and ‘mental breathing room’ while watching DSÄ. These experiences resonate core mechanisms of ART, particularly soft fascination and being away (Basu et al., 2019; Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989). Others pointed to mood uplift, relaxation, and stress relief consistent with affective and physiological pathways emphasised by SRT (Ulrich et al., 1991).

Everyday Restoration and Routinised Unpredictability

For many viewers, DSÄ’s benefits were embedded in daily routines, short ‘check-ins’ over coffee, between tasks, or before sleep, where live uncertainty worked less as a spectacle and more as a gentle, always possible maybe. This glanceable unpredictability may make restoration feel practicable in brief windows for some viewers. Because nothing is scheduled or forced, even a visit of a few minutes can provide soft fascination and a felt sense of being away, with longer sessions deepening the effect as attention settles into the coherent soundscape and extended shots (Basu et al., 2019; Stevenson et al., 2018). Respondents who watched ‘for relaxation and escapism’ were more likely to mention restoration and sensory immersion, consistent with everyday stress regulation rather than occasional escape. The format’s minimal narration and steady audio allow the stream to sit in the background without demanding continuous focus, so viewers can drift in and out as domestic and work rhythms permit, an accessible practice of attentional resetting that resists the acceleration of digital life (Couldry & Hepp, 2017).

Sensory Immersion and Coherence

Restorative responses were closely tied to the stream’s immersive sensory qualities. Viewers frequently highlighted the unbroken soundscape of birdsong, wind, and flowing water, alongside long, uninterrupted visual takes that allowed them to settle into the environment. This resonates with experimental evidence showing that multi-sensory fidelity, understood as the coherent presentation of visual, auditory, and temporal cues, enhances restoration (Schebella et al., 2020). DSÄ’s unedited pacing and perceptual coherence may therefore support soft fascination, defined as a gentle, undemanding form of attention that leaves mental bandwidth available for reflection (Basu et al., 2019). The absence of narration, music, or rapid edits was often described as reinforcing a strong sense of presence, with viewers reporting that they were watching with rather than at the environment. Responses coded under sensory immersion frequently extended beyond visual and auditory inputs to include imagined tactile and olfactory sensations, such as the ‘feel’ of wind or the ‘smell’ of spring in the forest.

Eudaimonic Well-Being

While many viewers described restorative outcomes aligned with ART and SRT, such as mental calm, reduced stress, and attentional relief, a smaller subset articulated eudaimonic well-being, a deeper, more reflective sense of meaning, vitality, and personal resonance. These responses went beyond momentary mood improvement or cognitive recovery. Instead, they emphasised how DSÄ offered emotional uplift, existential comfort, and a sense of grounding in one’s life, aligning with literature showing that nature experiences, including mediated ones, can support not only hedonic relief but also eudaimonic flourishing through reflection, awe, belonging, and identity reinforcement (Capaldi et al., 2017; Lumber et al., 2017).

Viewers frequently mentioned how DSÄ provided companionship during solitude, served as a ritual anchor in their day, or restored a sense of connection to the wider world. This pattern reflects how the programme becomes embedded in everyday routines and contributes to feelings of stability and connectedness (Von Essen & Truong, 2025). These remarks suggest that the programme’s impact extended beyond attentional restoration into dimensions associated with psychological resilience and existential support, especially among older adults or those with limited mobility. The positive association between age and the likelihood of mentioning well-being outcomes indicates that older participants were more inclined to articulate such experiences in their responses, without implying differences in the underlying intensity of well-being itself. Rather than replacing direct nature contact, DSÄ may serve older viewers as a complementary source of emotional nourishment and continuity that maintains a sense of relational presence within seasonal ecological cycles when mobility diminishes.

Empirically, eudaimonic well-being was the least frequently mentioned theme (130 of 2,011 responses) and showed the lowest co-occurrence with other themes, indicating that these experiences were often expressed as stand-alone meanings rather than in restorative terms. This pattern may reflect value alignment between DSÄ’s multispecies framing and viewers’ environmental worldviews. That environmental concern predicted well-being but not restoration suggests that some viewers experienced DSÄ less as a calming stream and more as a meaningful ecological presence resonating with ethical commitments, with meaning-focused and collective coping supporting well-being without reducing concern (Chawla, 2020; Ojala, 2016).

This divergence may point to a vocabulary gap, in which participants report emotionally significant experiences without using terms common to nature-and-health discourse. Alternatively, it may indicate that for some viewers, DSÄ’s affective power lies less in stress reduction than in its resonance with deeper life meanings. These findings support calls to broaden how we conceptualise the psychological benefits of nature beyond recovery or restoration, towards more life-integrated models of well-being, in which nature, even when mediated, contributes to emotional orientation, ethical values, and existential anchoring (Ives et al., 2017; Rosa et al., 2020). DSÄ’s ambient structure, slow pacing, and multispecies focus may support these outcomes by offering space for both attention and meaning-making. Here, some viewers appear not only calm but also moved or grounded, and in a few cases suggest experiences that may reflect quiet transformation.

Environmental Concern as a Double-Edged Filter

Environmental concern was slightly negatively associated with sensory immersion and showed a dampening interaction with age in predicting restoration, suggesting that higher concern did not consistently amplify restorative responses. Rather than indicating disengagement, this pattern may reflect competing cognitive or emotional processes. A more evaluative or worry-oriented stance towards environmental conditions may interfere with the open, embodied attention that supports immersion and restoration, particularly among older viewers. DSÄ’s recurring, seasonal format may also heighten awareness of ecological change over time. Viewers may notice shifts in species presence, soundscapes, or migration timing, experiences that can evoke emotions such as nostalgia, solastalgia, or anticipatory grief alongside moments of calm and meaning. In 2025, for example, the broadcast season was brought forward in response to earlier snowmelt, a change that surprised both viewers and producers and may become more common under climate change. Such layered emotional responses align with emerging work on ecological grief, which emphasises that concern, loss, and attachment can coexist with moments of comfort and connection rather than displacing them (Pihkala, 2024).

Demographic Patterns and Access to Nature

These patterns were not uniform across viewers. Age moderated both restorative and immersive themes, with older participants more likely to mention these responses, which aligns with evidence that ageing can increase appreciation for slower, contemplative, and emotionally resonant nature engagement (Stevenson et al., 2018). Ease of access to nature in everyday life positively predicted mentioning sensory immersion, indicating an association between everyday exposure and reporting immersive impressions. Women were, on average, more likely than men to mention sensory immersion in their responses. This pattern is consistent with previous research showing that women often engage with natural environments through more affective and sensory-attuned modes that emphasise emotional resonance and felt presence rather than predominantly goal-directed or instrumental orientations (Nurse et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2024). However, our models speak only to differences in expressed themes, not to underlying experiential differences or their causes. Such patterns are also not fixed: studies among children and adolescents show mixed evidence, underscoring the importance of developmental stage, cultural norms, and life context (Basten et al., 2021).

Shared Anticipation and Co-Presence

Social Engagement appeared in 260 responses and most often referred to the live chat and shared viewing rituals around crossings. In the regression models, Social Engagement was more likely mentioned among younger participants and women, with a marginal negative effect of environmental concern and a trend-level association with watching for relaxation and escapism. Effects were modest, suggesting variation in social use rather than a wholesale shift in experience. Co-occurrence with Unpredictability was notable (61 responses), indicating that collective waiting and real-time alerts intensified the pleasurable tension of live uncertainty through a form of mediated co-presence experienced together rather than alone (Couldry & Hepp, 2017). In practice, viewers posted ‘moose crossing alerts’ in the broadcast chat and in Facebook fan communities, and commented on other species, near misses, weather shifts, and camera changes, which turned indeterminate time into a shared activity (Kim et al., 2019). These practices may have helped link exciting moments with quieter intervals, shaping a sense of communal occasion, reinforcing a sense of being there together, and helping to stabilise attention across the day (Jodén & Strandell, 2022). Alongside these peak moments, many viewers also described DSÄ and its chat as a form of light-touch company during work, chores, or evenings. The steady audio and minimal narration allowed them to drift between solitary activity and social co-presence without cognitive overload. This ambient sociability complemented everyday micro-restoration and, for some, supported eudaimonic outcomes such as feeling anchored, accompanied, and connected to a wider seasonal world.

Taken together, these results suggest that DSÄ’s social affordances contribute to restoration by providing social resources within our four-dimensional framing. While classic ART and SRT emphasise individual perceptual mechanisms, our data indicate that co-presence, shared rituals, and light-touch companionship can scaffold attentional settling and mood regulation. We therefore interpret these social dimensions as integral to restorative experience and as support for extending restorative accounts towards relational and social–ecological understandings. Here, digital nature experiences are not only individual perceptual encounters but also socially co-created events, embedded in shared rituals, mediated co-presence, and collective meaning-making.