Animals will be in the national spotlight on February 2. The majority of Americans will be tuning in to watch the Broncos face off against the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII; a smaller subset will be tuning in to watch Puppy Bowl X, which will premiere on Animal Planet from 3-5 PM.
Animal Planet enjoyed record-breaking ratings, web traffic, and social buzz last year, and to celebrate the tenth consecutive year of the show, the network is introducing the Puppy Bowl X Fantasy Game and will feature fan Instagrams of pets enjoying the game on TV throughout the broadcasts.
“Puppy Bowl, like most epic sporting events, is a genuine social phenomenon and we’re taking full advantage of that by offering multiplatform experiences – like our Fantasy Game – that use social media to make Puppy Bowl even more fun to watch for millions of viewers,” said Miguel Monteverde, Vice President of Digital Media, Discovery Communications. “We look forward to ensuring that Animal Planet’s most anticipated and most social day of the year is even bigger and to bringing viewers even closer to the furry action.”
The Puppy Bowl X Fantasy Game connects to Facebook profiles and allows users to select a team of three competing puppies based on pictures, breed, sex, age, and a fun fact. Statistics such as touchdowns and fumbles can be tracked using Animal Planet’s online leaderboard.
If puppy athletes isn’t enticing, Keyboard Cat will be doing a rendition of Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” during halftime. Bruno Mars is set to perform hours later during halftime of Super Bowl XLVIII.
Last year, Puppy Bowl IX was a huge ratings and social success. 12.4 million unique viewers tuned in over the course of 12 hours (one original airing, and five subsequent re-airings). The event also generated the most Twitter buzz of any show besides the Super Bowl.