Cats and dogs can now fill the hours their owners are at work with a dedicated all-day streaming channel for pets launched by Chinese tech giant Tencent.
Clips of a duckling swimming in a bath or two happy pooches patrolling their neighborhood are examples of the curated programming on “PetTV.”
The new channel on Tencent Video — China’s most popular online streaming platform — is meant to keep pets company while alone or could act as an activity for animals and humans to enjoy together.
“This is all dog content, when will the cat program be on?” one person wrote in the chatroom on PetTV’s streaming page.
Tencent Video described PetTV as a “24-hour happiness hub specially designed for your furry kids” in a post on WeChat introducing the service last weekend.
Dogs’ and cats’ senses are different to humans’, so the channel’s colors, refresh rates and audio frequencies have been designed to suit their specific needs, it said.
PetTV is available to paid subscribers of Tencent Video, which said its market research found that 66 percent of dog owners leave the television on for their pets when they are out.
The streaming service is not the only pet specific media on the market. Popular Headspace mindfulness app posted a YouTube video this week titled: “When your pets miss you, play this: 6 hour calming music for dogs and cats.”
Tencent Video would also take advantage of third-party content, including airing the US’ DogTV — the world’s first TV channel and streaming service for pets.
The value of China’s growing urban pet market is estimated to reach 405 billion yuan (US$58.85 billion) in 2028, a PetData.cn report said.
On average last year, Chinese households spent more than 3,000 yuan on each dog and more than 2,000 yuan on each cat for their care needs.
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