National Dog Show 2014 TV Broadcast On Thanksgiving Day
NBC will present the 13th annual edition of its popular holiday special “The National Dog Show Presented by Purina” on Thanksgiving (November 27, 2014 noon-2 p.m. in all time zones) following the telecast of NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“The National Dog Show Presented by Purina” celebrates man’s best friend and is hosted by award-winning actor, author and Broadway star John O’Hurley (“Seinfeld,” “Dancing with the Stars”). Expert analysis is offered by David Frei, an American Kennel Club-licensed judge and host of USA Network’s “Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.” NBC’s Mary Carillo will report from the benching area and inside the show ring.
“Twelve years of doing this holiday special has given my family a wealth of knowledge about God’s great creatures and I am not shy about letting everyone know that The National Dog Show is my favorite day of the year,” O’Hurley offered. “And when I see a dog on any street in America it will always give me a little wink of recognition. It’s become a treasured Thanksgiving Day tradition, nearly as old as my hair.”
Included this year are two new AKC-sanctioned breeds, the Wirehaired Vizsla (Sporting) and the Coton De Tulear (Non Sporting), bringing the total recognized breeds to 192 (http://nds.nationaldogshow.com/event-info-newbreed14.php). Broadcast and online content will also include the newest member of the 2014 National Dog Show Therapy Ambassador Team — Butler, a male Shepherd mix. Butler currently works as the official therapy dog of the Weather Channel and travels with the newsgathering teams to sites of severe weather destruction.
An established family holiday tradition, the show reached 22 million total viewers last year and is part of a five-hour block of family programming. The National Dog Show telecast has attracted a larger average audience during each of the last four years versus the prior year, a rare feat in this era of ever-increasing audience fragmentation.
The telecast will showcase some 1,500 purebred canines competing for the title of Best in Show, with $20,000 in prize money and enormous prestige at stake. Unlike traditional dog show coverage, the National Dog Show offers the country’s 65 million pet-owning households an afternoon of family-oriented activities, facilitated by the open format of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia event. As one of the only remaining “benched” dog shows, all of the competing breeds are on display all day for the visiting public.