'Growing Up Wild' tops pet YouTube lineup

June 5, 2012 - 1:37 PM
Pets YouTube

This undated image provided by "Growing Up Wild", shows, Bindi Irwin, 13, and Robert Irwin, 8, children of famed animal adventurer Steve Irwin, pet an echidna at the Australian Zoo outside Brisbane, Aus. during a taping of “Growing Up Wild,” a new series from Fremantle Media that can be seen on The Pet Collective, a new YouTube Channel. (AP Photo/Growing Up Wild)





Robert, 8, wants people to know: "Not all animals actually make good pets. Be careful what animals you actually choose and always protect animals."

Fremantle, the company behind "American Idol," ''The X Factor" and the international "Got Talent" franchise, is already a huge YouTube partner, said Richard Vargas of Los Angeles, senior vice president of development and production for London-based Fremantle.


The pet lovers channel and "Growing Up Wild" debuted on May 31. Through the week, The Pet Collective debuted other new shows like "The Litter," the story of a litter of kittens narrated by Khloe Kardashian; "The Unadoptables," looking at hard-to-adopt pets; and "Master & Pet," a scripted comedy-drama about a woman and her cat who seems to be masterminding her dating life.


By the end of summer, Fremantle expects to have 20 hours of programming on YouTube. At 12 episodes an hour, that's 240 individual episodes.

Vargas wouldn't disclose how much Fremantle is investing in the effort, hinting only that it wasn't as much as traditional TV programming, but not a bad budget.


Some series will feature audience-produced video, but "Growing Up Wild" features TV-style production. "They are such an engaging duo. It's the Irwins naturally telling the camera and the audience their anecdotes about these animals. It's not like they are reading scripts or anything. They are really passionate about the subject," Vargas said.

After their episode on the red panda, "I wanted a red panda for myself," he said.



"My dad always said this and I thought it was very profound. He said, 'I always understand crocodiles because they will always try and kill you no matter what. You know what they're going to do because they are always going to try and kill you," Bindi said.

People might be trying to kill you too, she said, but "they will try to be your friend first. You can always count on animals to do the same thing and have the same personality and you can trust that. It's a trait that some people don't seem to have."




In what the zoo calls the echidna experience, visitors can put food on their toes and the animals will eat it. "It tickles and they laugh and it makes the best photos," Bindi said.



And how about talent, since that is what Fremantle does best?
