Animal fans looking to watch a livestream of the 2019 Puppy Bowl and Kitten Bowl will be in luck, with plenty of options to watch all the adorable animals online.
On Sunday, networks looking to snag viewers worn out from wall-to-wall football coverage will get a chance with the Puppy Bowl and Kitten Bowl. The Puppy Bowl will air on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Animal Planet, featuring 93 different frolicking puppies from 53 shelters across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica. As Sporting News reported, there will actually be “pregame” coverage that starts a 2 p.m. ET. The entire 2019 Puppy Bowl will be replayed at 6 p.m. ET, for those animal fans who would rather watch puppies than football players.
The Kitten Bowl, now in its sixth season, will air on the Hallmark Channel at 2 p.m. ET and will also replay at 5 p.m. The network is also offering something new this year for fans of older felines — the Cat Bowl, which features older and special needs cats.
Those who want to watch a livestream of the Puppy Bowl will be tuning into one of the most successful pieces of counter-programming. Now in its 15th season, the contest emerged as a way for Animal Planet to snag viewers looking for a football alternative on Super Bowl Sunday.
As Deadline noted, there is a sizeable chunk of America that won’t be watching the Super Bowl.
“More than 200 million Americans won’t watch the game, which means they’ll need something else to look at. Broadcasters and streamers not named CBS or CBS All Access will have you covered again this year on that front, setting up counterprogramming with puppies, cats and marathons galore (or, dogs and Katniss living together!).”
The Ringer noted that other networks have tried to counterprogram the Super Bowl for years, especially at halftime. This includes the debut episode of MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch and WWE events billed as “Halftime Heat,” and even a live edition of Saturday Night Live ‘s Weekend Update. But few have found the success of the Puppy Bowl and its newer copycats, which have become consistently top draws for viewers. The Puppy Bowl even beat out ESPN’s Super Bowl pregame coverage for viewers two years ago.
Meet the dog trainer in charge of all the puppy athletes and learn her industry secrets. #PuppyBowlXV https://t.co/KED0798HVt
— Animal Planet (@AnimalPlanet) February 2, 2019
Those who want to watch a livestream of the Puppy Bowl can find it through Animal Planet GO . The Kitten Bowl can be seen through the Hallmark Channel’s online site .
