Finland's Pen2 Live puppy stream draws millions as comfort viewing
Finland's state broadcaster is running a 24-hour live stream of Hilka and her six 11-day-old puppies, drawing millions as slow TV comfort viewing before the pups leave in December.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Finland's national broadcaster is again running Pen2 Live, a 24-hour live stream of a dog called Hilka and her six puppies. The feed has become a slow TV comfort hit as autumn turns to winter. The puppies were 11 days old in the latest coverage and can sleep for as much as 20 hours a day, so the appeal is calm rather than dramatic.
The stream is in its sixth year. It was dreamed up by a Finnish scientist and has been put on by Finland's state broadcaster every year since 2021. Reported viewing figures vary: around a million people in Finland have been watching, while last year the feed attracted 6.5 million views, a big number in a country of 5.6 million. This year's feed was expected to pass the previous total.
The broadcast is being used in hospitals and classrooms, and by people working night shifts. Its backers say it can foster a sense of belonging and emotional well-being, especially in late autumn and winter when people stay at home more. Fans describe it as a stress reliever they can turn to at any time of day or night. Viewers can vote on names for the puppies, which helps them feel they know the litter.
Pen2 Live is part of a wider slow TV tradition. Previous live-stream stars include Punch, a Japanese macaque who was abandoned by his mother and befriended a stuffed orangutan; Moo Deng, a pygmy hippo at a Thai zoo; the fat bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park; and moose making their yearly river crossing in Sweden. In the UK, a live stream of a lettuce outlasted Liz Truss in Number 10.
The current litter is not all sleeping babies. In a few days, perhaps by Saturday, the puppies are expected to open their eyes, and soon they will start walking. The stream will stop in December when they go to their new homes. By then Finland will be deep in winter, with the north dark for 24 hours a day, which may explain why viewers are grateful for the small bit of light relief.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A 24-hour puppy livestream in Finland has attracted around one million viewers. | |
| The puppy livestream is in its sixth year. | |
| Viewers can vote on names for the puppies. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Across its lunchtime and evening bulletins, ITV1 framed the stream as gentle comfort viewing and a break from gloomy news, with the lunchtime report dwelling on emotional well-being and the evening report on its scale and daily-life uses. The evening bulletin added that the feed is shown in hospitals, classrooms and on night shifts, and gave more detail on its origins and what happens next. Both reports kept a warm, light tone and placed the item near the end of the programme.
- “For around a million people in Finland that's come in the form of a 24-7 live stream of puppies”
- “This is being shown in hospitals, classrooms. People who are doing night shift in the middle of the night”
- “Or there's always, I guess, Pen2 Live”
Broadcast Timeline
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