Puppy Bowl!

The Takeaway

The Super Bowl may be the most watched television event of the year, but that doesn’t mean that other networks don’t try their best to lure viewers. Knowing that not everyone loves football, plenty of programming out there on Superbowl night targets non-jocks.
PBS, for example, went forward with the newest episode of Downton Abby.
And Bravo, as usual, played a chick flick for the ladies out there (this year, it was “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”).
But the most talked-about counter-programming to the Super Bowl last night, was the ninth Animal Planet Puppy Bowl.
Last year, the annual spectacular garnered ten million viewers, and this year, it was bigger and better than ever, with hedgehog cheerleaders and a puppy hot tub.
What, exactly, is the Puppy Bowl? And why do so many viewers love it?
Sarah Montague, WNYC’s resident dog expert and producer for the fiction series, “Selected Shorts,” explains.

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