Hallmark Channel announces first-ever ‘Kitten Bowl’

Watch out, “Puppy Bowl,” there’s a new cuddly show vying for the eyeballs of animal loving sports fans on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s Hallmark Channel’s “Kitten Bowl,” hosted by Howard Stern’s wife, Beth Stern, and featuring John Sterling, the official radio voice of the New York Yankees, as announcer.

Herding kittens isn’t easy, as anyone who ever tried to corral a fluffy group of newborns in a bathroom, knows. So it’ll be interesting to see just how the show’s producers manage to get the little tigers to play ball inside Kitten Stadium.

Like “Puppy Bowl,” which celebrates its 10th year on Animal Planet in 2014, “Kitten Bowl” features two teams of adorable felines occasionally knocking a ball between goal posts while engaging in all sorts of jaw-droppingly cute shenanigans involving “hurdles, tunnels, hoops, jumps, weave poles, lasers, lures and toys on strings.”

INTERACTIVE: Fall 2013 TV preview

The game will last about three hours on Feb. 2 and between 60 and 70 kittens will participate and thus be guaranteed of adoption through “Kitten Bowl” partner North Shore Animal League America.

NSALA is the country’s largest no-kill shelter and adoption agency, and Beth Stern is known for her advocacy on the organization’s behalf.

Special celebrity guests will be announced soon, but it has been promised that a number of them will be YouTube stars from the land of Kittan. May we suggest Maru, Stalking Cat or Keyboard Cat?

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