This week the New York Times reported on a new cable channel, Dog TV; the story was also picked up by MediaPost. The first thought that came to my mind, was how are they monetizing this? What advertiser in their right mind would buy space targeted to the canine demographic? Turns out it’s a pay channel, now only available in San Diego, as an online stream, and an iPhone app. A national launch is in the plans for late this year.
The premise is that Dog TV is something for your dog to watch while you’re not home, helping to relieve dog owner guilt at leaving the dog alone, further proof people want to offer services for their dogs as they would for human family members. The channel also purports to help dogs acclimate to a variety of sounds and encourages the dog to relax at certain times and be alert at others. I’ve spent enough days home with my dogs to know that adult dogs spend most of the day sleeping; I’m not sure they’d go out of their way to wake up for a favorite program.
Overall, the channel is doing a great job with PR and social media getting the word out as they work toward a the national rollout. I’m not sure I’ll be popping for an additional premium channel for my dogs, but I’ll check it out if appears in the local cable lineup.
