The Pet Industry Is Booming. Is Your Brand Keeping Up?
The American pet industry has crossed $150 billion in annual spending in 2026 and it shows no signs of slowing down. Pets are family members and today’s pet parents spend more on nutrition, wellness, grooming, and enrichment than any previous generation. For pet brands, this should be the best time in history to grow.
So why are so many pet companies struggling to get noticed?
The Competition Has Never Been Tougher
Walk into any pet supply store or scroll through Amazon, Target or your favorite pet supply chain and you will find dozens of brands competing for the same shelf space and the same customer attention. Every category is crowded. Cat treats, dog supplements, grooming products, pet tech and dozens of startups launching every day. There is more choice than ever, which means less visibility for every individual brand unless you are actively working to stand out.
Having a great product is no longer enough. The brands winning market share right now are the ones that are visible. Consistently, credibly, and at scale.
Earned Media Is Harder Than Ever
From the Washington Post to NBC News — shrinking newsrooms mean fewer opportunities for pet brands to earn traditional media coverage.
For years, pet brands relied on public relations to generate press coverage. A feature in a pet magazine, a mention in a holiday gift roundup in a national consumer outlet. But the media landscape has changed dramatically.
Newsrooms have shrunk. Editors are overwhelmed. Product features that used to be relatively accessible now require affiliate links, paid placements, or a celebrity connection just to get a conversation started. The path to earned media coverage has become longer, more uncertain, and more competitive than it has ever been.
This is not a reason to give up on PR. It is a reason to think differently about where you invest your visibility budget.
The Brands on TV Are Winning
While print circulation has declined and social media algorithms continue to squeeze organic reach, one channel has remained consistently powerful: television.
Broadcast TV still reaches millions of Americans every single day. Local news programs, lifestyle shows, and morning programs command the kind of trust and attention that no social media post can replicate. When a product appears on television — presented by a credible host in an editorial format — consumers notice. They remember. And they buy.
The pet brands we work with through Paws PR TV are not waiting for a journalist to call. They are taking control of their visibility by securing guaranteed broadcast placements on nationally syndicated programs that reach real pet owners across the country.
One recent segment aired in 177 U.S. markets with 868 total broadcasts, reaching an estimated 8.6 million viewers. Another reached 61 million viewers across 79 markets. These are not hypothetical numbers — they are the actual results our brand partners have received.
What This Means for Your Brand
If you are a pet brand trying to grow in 2026, the question is not whether TV works. The question is whether you are using it.
The brands that invest in broadcast visibility today are building the kind of consumer trust and brand recognition that compounds over time. The brands that wait are ceding ground to competitors who are already on air.
The pet industry is booming. Your brand deserves a seat at the table — and increasingly, that table is on television.
There is another reason earned media still matters even as the traditional press landscape shifts: artificial intelligence. AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews pull their answers from trusted, credible sources across the web — published articles, reviews, and press coverage. Brands with strong earned media footprints are far more likely to be surfaced in AI search results than brands that rely solely on paid advertising or social media. If a pet owner asks an AI assistant to recommend a dog supplement or grooming product, the brands that appear are the ones with a track record of press coverage and third-party credibility. Earned media is no longer just about today's newspaper — it is about how your brand gets found tomorrow.
You Own the Content — And You Can Use It Everywhere
When your brand appears in a Paws PR TV segment, you receive a high-quality video of the broadcast that belongs to you. That means you can post it on your website, share it across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn, embed it in email campaigns, and use it in sales presentations to retailers and investors. You can own the entire segment or participate in a co-op with other pet brands.
A single TV segment becomes a content asset that works for your brand long after the broadcast date. In a world where brands are constantly scrambling for credible, professional content, this is one of the most underrated benefits of a broadcast placement — you are not just buying airtime, you are receiving content that can’t be staged.
Ready to Get Your Pet Brand on TV?
At Paws PR TV, we produce professionally hosted, nationally syndicated TV segments specifically for pet brands. I work directly with Patricia Jones, a former NBC News Producer and the founder of Paws PR to produce the segments. I host the segments on TV and ensure your brand is showcased to drive sales!
Whether you are launching a new product, trying to reach a wide audience or simply ready to invest in visibility that actually works, we would love to talk.
