Where most of us are concerned, Sweden is reckoned to be the most secular, Godless society in Europe. But is it? At the Prague conference on religious broadcasting, Hans Bonnevier, head of programme scheduling at Swedish television, said that, while most Swedes do not express an interest in God the way the Christian churches do, a new interest in spirituality in general in that country has turned it into "a multi-religious society".
Over recent years "interest in the big issues of life and death, the meaning of life in general and ethics in particular" had grown in Sweden, and had become a focus of attention in the media there, he said. Describing himself as "a very normal Swedish savage" who, like 80 per cent of Swedes, is a member of the Lutheran church but never attends - except for funerals or marriages - he said it was a mistake to assume that because Sweden was such a secular society it had no religious needs.
He pointed to the country's record on refugees and the Third World as an indication that people in Sweden were "ethically engaged". Decades of immigration - in some suburbs in Stockholm up to 100 languages were spoken - have also helped make Sweden a multi-religious society, he said.
Market share for Sunday religious services on Swedish television (SVT) was 20 per cent, while ratings for other religious programmes were between 3 and 8 per cent. The emphasis however at SVT, he said, was on serving the interests of the public rather than those of the church organisations. As for scheduling, the same principles apply to religious programming as for any other programmes. While the broadcasting of such programmes at all had been the subject of criticism in the past, this was now no longer the case. Over the next 15 years he forecast an even stronger role for religious programmes at SVT - not so much because they attract a large audience, but because one section of the audience regards them as very important.
Michael Otrisal, head of religious programmes at CTV (from the Czech Republic) said up to a third of viewers watching its Christian Magazine programmes were unbelievers. Fifty-nine per cent of Czechs describe themselves as unbelievers, with 18.5 per cent Catholic, 13.1 per cent atheistic, and the remainder members of other denominations and faiths. He attributed the success of the programme to the style of presentation.
Ernest Rea, head of religious programmes at the BBC, said the success of anything on television, including religion, came down to just one word: "entertainment".
All the evidence and audience research had shown this, he said. "People turn to TV for entertainment. They may see news programmes and such like, but it is entertainment they turn to television for."
Presenting the result of a survey of TV companies who provide religious programmes, Bart Verreijt of Netherlands TV (KRO) said approximately 29 European TV companies were presenting 3,048 hours of religious programmes per year, or 94 hours per company. One third of those (1,029) hours were made up of the relaying of "live" religious services. Documentaries accounted for 449 hours, information was 435 hours, religious news was 300 hours, and meditation programmes 190 hours.
