Cable Television Goes To The Dogs - No, Really!

Does your pooch look sad when you leave for school each morning? Does it spend the entire day staring at the walls, bored out of its mind? Then DogTV - A 24-hour television channel dedicated to canines is just what you may be looking for!

While the concept may sound like a rather poor April Fool's joke, DogTV actually exists and is already broadcasting 'original' shows on Cox and Time Warner cable networks. It is the brainchild of experienced media professional Dan Levi, who in the past has written episodes for 'The Amazing Race' and even, hosted a music channel.

Mr. Levi who lives in New York came up with this ingenious idea after seeing how despondent his cat would appear every time she saw him getting ready for work. The only thing that seemed to cheer her up a bit, was if he left the television on for the day.

After convincing Israeli-based Media and Production company, Jasmine Group to finance him, Dan began to think up of episodes of things he thought dogs would be most interested in. His initial programs included things like barking dogs, other loud noises and even cats. However, when he showed it to a test canine audience, they did not approve at all - It seemed to irritate them. He also realized that like young children, dogs had very short attention spans, meaning they could focus one each show for a maximum of five minutes.

All this research took him three years, but he finally believes he has nailed it. Two weeks ago DogTV began airing in San Diego with 800 original programs. Each episode lasts between three to five minutes and features things like car rides, runs around the park, a bouncing ball and even dogs snoozing - All activities dogs love to do on a day to day basis. And, while Mr. Levi hasn't conducted field tests, he believes cats may enjoy DogTV too! While the San Diego channel is currently being offered for free, the cable companies eventually hope to charge $4.99 a month, for all this commercial-free programing.

Do you think this is a good idea? Would you consider subscribing to this channel for the pooch or feline? Be sure to let us know, by adding your comments below.

Resources: msnbc.msn.com, DogTv.com