As many as 623,000 viewers gathered a year ago to watch Edvin Laine’s film The Unknown Soldier.
Sergeant Lehto (Åke Lindman, center) and soldiers Määttä (Pentti Siimes, right) and Rahikainen (Kaarlo Halttunen, left) are serving a tougher punishment after being caught in the unauthorized possession of foodstuffs in the movie Unknown Soldier. IL ARCHIVE
In addition to the live broadcast of Linna’s celebrations, one of the fixed TV traditions of Independence Day is always the movie Unknown Soldier (1955) directed by Edvin Laine.
Unknown has been shown on Yle Teema in recent years, and the film gathers a significant number of viewers in front of the television year after year. Iltalehti found out what viewership numbers The Unknown Soldier has received since 2015.
During the last seven years, the classic film has always been watched by at least 350,000 pairs of eyes, but in the last two years, the viewership numbers have jumped up significantly. In 2020, the average number of viewers of Tuntematton was 497,000, and last year it was as many as 623,000 viewers, which is the highest number in recent years.
Responsible producer of Yle Teema Marika Kecskeméti find a reason for the high viewership numbers of previous years.
– There are a couple of corona years behind us, when the festive program offering has been exceptional. It has certainly had an effect on the viewership of The Unknown Soldier. The unknown soldier is perceived as significant and therefore it is still strongly part of the Finnish Independence Day tradition, says Kecskeméti.
This year the Castle party will be held again, so it remains to be seen what effect it will have on the viewership of The Unknown Soldier.
The average viewership of The Unknown Soldier in 2015–2021:
In 2015: 374,000
In 2016: 621,000
In 2017: 452,000
In 2018: 421,000
In 2019: 346,000
In 2020: 497,000
In 2021: 623,000