We all know cats rule the Internet, but will dogs rule TV? It's a theory we're interested in seeing play out after Discovery Communications' announced its plans to promote a channel exclusively targeted to our canine friends. The media group — which owns Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet – is developing DogTV, a subscription-only online and DirectTV network that broadcasts 24/7 pooch-oriented programming.
This isn't quite like the Puppy Bowl, mind you. DogTV is literally for dogs, not people. As of now, the experimental network offers three categories of programming: "relaxation" (hypnotic puppy footage), "stimulation" (dogs, and other animals, in motion), and "exposure" (people, machines, generally flurries of activity). Similar networks already exist for babies, and a like-minded canine concept even emerged as early as 1997, in the form of a little-known network called The Puppy Channel. Can DogTV transcend cult canine status? It remains to be seen.
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For now, Dan Fox, Discovery’s senior vice president of corporate development, calls DogTV a “a natural fit" for what his network specializes in: interest-first, personality-second TV. As BusinessWeek reports, 43.3 million households in the United States have at least one dog — in other words, that's huge viewing potential, if we can get our furry friends to sit still long enough to bark at a screen full of chirping baby birds. Though we're not sure this demographic is all that interesting to advertisers, as its members typically don't carry wallets.
For now, human friends, we bring you what Jon Stewart might call your daily "moment of Zen," below. (BusinessWeek)