The National Dog Show

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132 – January/February, 2022

By Amy Fernandez

TV ratings…That sounds so quaint in this age of “likes and page views.” Guess what, it still counts. The recent National Dog Show, which long ago transcended to become a genuine Thanksgiving tradition, raised the bar this year, beating out everything as the most-watched network program of this TV-centric holiday. David Frei, who needs no introduction, kindly provided a few remarks about achieving that milestone. As you might expect from a real dog person, he was nonplussed about this ratings milestone. “I don’t really understand how they calculate ratings. The one we are always talking about is total viewers and that’s where our numbers have been consistently high. I think we have probably come close, if not beaten them in the past. The difference this year was that it is the first time someone took notice.” I’d say quite a few people took notice. As David explains, this one is a different animal–and it is the one they use most of the time, ‘unique viewers’. And for us to beat them [the Oscars] by a million, (11 million dog show viewers) to their 10 million.” Case closed.

As a seasoned pro, David is not inclined to read too much into this achievement. That’s why I’m here. For over a decade we’ve watched as AR nihilists confidently predicted the demise of our sport. Seems to me, based on 11 million unique viewers…that ain’t happenin’ any time soon!

“It’s really not a surprise. We’ve been in that stratosphere from the start.” David recalls “I think we had about 9-10 million viewers the first year. And it’s done nothing but go up ever since. There’s not much in network broadcasting that can claim 20 years of consistent numbers like that.” Yeah, here’s the main thing. Hard, cold data speaks far louder than propaganda. Personally, I think it suggests a bright future for the dog game. David is a bit more cautious in his optimism. “Everyone is always looking for something that works, and it would certainly be good for the sport if there was more dog show programming on television.”

Ok, it’s sensible to remain calm. However, in terms of the big picture, the impact couldn’t be more powerful. You see, I was at Crufts that fateful year when the BBC caved to AR ranting. With great fanfare they announced that it would cease broadcasting this supposed celebration of animal cruelty.

Click here to read the complete article
132 – January/February, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Jan 29 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.