DogTV picks up where Puppy Channel left off

Do you miss The Puppy Channel? Your wait for 24/7 canine-related programming may soon be at an end, thanks to DogTV.

After its debut two months ago in San Diego, the channel is available via the Internet and has plans for national distrubution. The conceit is that it's actually for dogs, writes Steve Gorman at Reuters:

The content is specifically tailored for four-legged audiences, with even the sound, colors and camera angles adjusted to make them more appealing to canines.The dogs' favorite TV stars, not surprisingly, turn out to be other dogs.

"They love watching other dogs being active on the screen, and other animals," said Beke Lubeach, head of marketing for DogTV, adding that birds, monkeys and zebras have proven popular as well.

According to their research, dogs also like harp music and SpongeBob SquarePants. [Reuters]

• [derek prowse]

  butbutbut dogs don’t see images the same on screens for slightly slower refresh rates..  if you’re playing this on a CRT or older flatscreen, it’s very likely that the dog sees shimmering, swirling colors and hears dogs having fun.   Clockwork Orange For Dogs.

• [AwesomeRobot]

  I often wonder how you go about finding enough crazy people to staff companies like this. 

  • [Brian Cain]

    Americans spend something like 50 BILLION a year on their pets.  It’s not crazy to try and grab a share of that market.

• [Bink Binkerson]

  They’d do better if they  relaunched as The Pussy Channel.

• [Kirby_G]

  Nice.  Leave that electricity burning TV running all day, but the  dog won’t be bored so it’s okay.

  • [splashu]

    Yeah, I’m pretty sure spending the money you’d spend powering your TV all day on a good dog-sitter would be a lot better for the dog than turning it into a couch potato.

  • [EH]

    Don’t you want to “leave a little love on?”

• [pupdog]

  I tried this with the TV, but my dog’s totally hooked on CSI reruns now. Usually not a problem, although the bad puns and sunglasses are getting tiresome when we go walkies.

• [mccrum]

  Sounds like that guy who wanted to make the cat channel on This American Life was about ten years too early.

• [daneyul]

  But if you have an lcd/plasma it should be fine.

  From their site: ” The human eye discerns flickering movement at a rate of 50-60 Hz while
  in dogs, that same ‘flicker fusion rate’ is as high as 70-80 Hz. Older television sets, with a CRT screen, refreshed their picture at a rate of 50-60 Hz with the result of a smooth picture for humans and a flicker nightmare for dogs. New LCD technology however, has changed all that. The refresh rate on the newer television screens is now 100Hz and up, perfect for continuous canine viewing. ”

  Looks like to subscribe to the online feed, it’s $10.00 a month.  That’s a bit ruff 0n the wallet.

• [Stefan Jones]

  Based on my dog’s  interests, the channel would have to feature lots of running cats and big, juicy squirrels.