SBS has given Aussies their first taste of ‘slow TV’, and it seems it has left them wanting more.
The broadcaster’s three-hour special of The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey seemed to get the nation talking, trending nationally on social media.
Furthermore, the show recorded an average of 583,000 viewers in metro and regional markets, according to OzTAM, making it the highest-performing SBS program in the past 12 months, based on overnight ratings.
SBS is going one step further in the slow TV space this Sunday from 2.40am to 8.30pm, broadcasting the journey of The Ghan in full for 17 hours.
The extended-duration version captures the entire iconic 2,979 kilometre rail journey from Adelaide to Darwin, omitting the black screen night time segments of travel, and is not commercial-free.
Produced by Mint Pictures, The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey explores a story important to Australia’s shared multicultural history.
The train line and subsequent development of central Australia can be attributed to local Indigenous communities as well as early immigrants, including Europeans, Chinese, and the Afghan cameleers ‘The Ghan’ is named after.
The 17-hour special of The Ghan: Australia’s Greatest Train Journey will be available after broadcast on SBS On Demand, and the three-hour version is available to catch-up on now.
