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"On Sport: When Dogs Fly"
Wall Street Journal |
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TO SPORTS FANS, November conjures up some powerful images. Flurries at football games. Buzzer-beaters on the basketball court. And yes, Stimpy the Jack Russell Terrier. If it seems like your Trinitron has been taken over by household pets in racing bibs, don't bother jiggling the antenna. Faced with tight budgets and a shortage of original sports programming, network executives are pinning their hopes on a new and unlikely breed of superstar athletes: dogs. By the end of the year, no fewer than five networks will have broadcast some form of canine sports, from the "Great Outdoor Games" on ESPN to the "Incredible Dog Challenge" on TBS. And it's not just the cable guys getting into the game: On Thanksgiving Day, NBC will try to crack the NFL's holiday ratings hammerlock by broadcasting (you guessed it) the National Dog Show from Philadelphia. "Not everybody likes football," a spokesman says. Hopeless as this may seem, dogs actually do have some ratings bite. One dog show on Animal Planet this year attracted almost as many viewers as a recent first-round baseball playoff game. The Westminster Kennel Club's dog show drew more than four million viewers on a night back in February, crushing the NBA and NHL games that ran against it. And with 40% of American households owning a pooch, it's hard to ignore the potential. "Dogs cut across all demographics," says USA producer Greg Picker. But don't let all the cuddly rhetoric fool you, this is largely an act of desperation. Between the outrageous cost of doing business with major sports like the NFL and the runaway success of cheap reality shows like "American Idol," the buzzword in the TV business is value. And with experiments like street luge and bass-fishing tournaments going nowhere, it's no surprise that dogs are getting more camera time. "It's not expensive, the dogs aren't prima donnas and you don't have to worry about anybody getting indicted," says John Mansell of Kagan World Media. Last Saturday on Animal Planet, dog fans got a look at the second installment of the "Superstar Challenge." With elaborate sets and dramatic theme music, this show is clearly taking itself seriously. So while dogs dive into pools and negotiate teeter-totters, a team of sideline reporters conducts interviews. "He always gives me 110%," says one handler. Another feature: replays and expert analysis. "Bud's advantage here," says one poolside commentator, "was more leg spring in the launch." In case you missed it, the pinnacle of dog sports came on the "Great Outdoor Games," when an undersized black Lab named Little Morgan jumped nearly 27 feet off the end of a dock, sending ESPN's announcers into fits of hyperbole ("A new world record!") and leaving fans chanting his name. How did Little Morgan handle all the excitement? "He went psycho," says one dog owner. "It took two people to hold him down and he still wouldn't stop wiggling." As you might expect, dogs are not exactly nipping at the heels of marquee events. The Olympics outdrew Westminster this year by an average of 25 million people. Not every show is a smarh hit: Last year, more Americans tuned in to watch the movie "Stepmom" than the "Incredible Dog Challenge." Still, the drawing power of the pooch is about to be tested in a big way. By unleashing its dog show just after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (which usually attracts about 25% of the national TV audience), NBC has pretty much guaranteed that millions of people will take a look. And with Purina writing a big check to sponsor the telecast, total production costs for the network will be a relatively frugal $1 million an hour. The burning question: Can a bunch of Pugs and Pomeranians hold off the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots? No, NBC isn't expecting any miracles. But if the dog show manages to fetch a few million converts, says Mitch Metcalf, senior vice president for scheduling, "then we'll have the last laugh." Meanwhile, all these shows are producing something unusual: celebrity dog athletes. Tucker, a champion dock diver, has flown across the country in first class and appeared in a commercial. "He's kind of a rock star," says owner Tom Dropik. Wally, another leaper, landed a modest sponsorship deal with a pet-food company. And ever since New York's Gov. George Pataki draped a "Big Air" gold medal around his neck this summer, Little Morgan has been barraged by fans asking for photos. These days, Morgan is back home in Minnesota with his owner, Mike Jackson. And while the adulation has died down, the world champion pooch will be back to defend his title next year. In the meantime, Mr. Jackson says, Morgan has been following the same rigorous training regimen as always. "He pretty much lays around the townhouse waiting for me to get back from work. |