Animal Planet Launches Ultimate Destination for Pets and their People -- THE SPOT

-- Online Pet Community Gives Pet Owners a Place to Brag About Their Furry Friends and a Chance to Get Their Pets on Television --

July 1, 2009

(Silver Spring, Md.) Have you ever thought your pet should be on TV? Do you brag to your friends that your pet is more talented than theirs or debate them on which breed makes the best pet? Do you think of your pet as your wingman or an expression of yourself? AnimalPlanet.com's new 360 pet destination, coined "The Spot," is a fully integrated online and on-air destination that gives pet owners the chance to engage with fellow pet enthusiasts to discuss these topics, show off their pets and perhaps even get them an appearance on Animal Planet. "The Spot" is an interactive, pet loving community offering, a one-stop-shop for pet videos, the latest in pet trends and a place where pet owners can share their experiences with other people enamored with their beloved pets. To visit "The Spot" visitors can go to www.animalplanet.com/thespot.
 
"The Spot" is an extension of Animal Planet's successful pet programming line-up and consists of four main areas including:

  • The Casting Couch, where viewers can find out about opportunities to get Fido or Fluffy cast in an Animal Planet show. Currently, the network is casting for several shows including UNDERDOG TO WONDERDOG, IT'S ME OR THE DOG, HAUNTED ANIMALS and SUPERFETCH. Also, viewers will soon be seeing spots on-air encouraging them to upload videos of their pets with the hopes of getting the chance to see their fuzzy friends on television.
  • Pet Pin-ups, where pet parents can post their pet's picture while competing against pictures from other community members. The winning Pet Pin-up photo will appear in the on-air bug during Animal Planet's Saturday night pet programming line-up and the featured pet will act as host for the entire evening.
  • The Daily Treat where pet expert Janet McCulley blogs about the latest trends in the pet world and hosts product giveaways. Janet will also host on-air spots where she will point out pet and owner "faux-paws" she encounters at area dog parks and on the street.
  • The soon to be launched Battle of the Breeds, where breed enthusiasts can compete against other players to prove their dog's breed is the best around! "Top dogs" will be highlighted in the game, within select pages of "The Spot," and can be shared with family and friends.

Beginning Friday, July 3, "The Spot" will be integrated on-air into Animal Planet's pet programming, including during Saturday night's pet line-up, with a campaign that captures a unique and self-expressive group of pets and their people-from the pet's point of view. The Spot's on-air presence will be felt in numerous ways from a Battle of the Breeds ticker that lets viewers know which breed is on top, to nightly casting calls that direct people to The Casting Couch.  As "The Spot" continues to grow, it will tie-in to current events, honor celebrity pets by flipping things on their head with the pet taking center stage instead of their famous owner, as well as integration with other social media sites. With components online and on-air "The Spot" creates an environment where consumers can interact, while allowing sponsors to share information about products or programs that might interest community members.

 "AnimalPlanet.com has a loyal and active pet community that loves showing off photos and video clips of their pets, and "The Spot" gives them a chance to take that engagement to the next level with people who are just as fanatical about their furry friends as they are," says Allison Rand, vice president of Animal Planet Interactive Digital Media. "This latest addition to our web site is truly the ultimate destination for everything pet related, and we can't wait to see what people share!"

The launch of "The Spot" follows a period of strong growth for Animal Planet's website. In May 2009, AnimalPlanet.com outperformed last year's key metrics by double-digits for the 7th straight month. The website posted gains of more than 30% in Monthly Unique Visitors (1.8M vs. 1.3M) and Visits (2.2M vs. 1.7M) for the 7th straight month versus year ago totals. April 2009 was the second best performing month ever in terms of monthly unique visitors and visits for the web site.

About Animal Planet
Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment.  APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 95 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.