Ever since Animal Planet went on the air 12 years ago, it’s been a clear-cut brand: a network about animals.

Trouble is, the mid-sized network has become as big as it’s likely to get airing animal shows like “Crocodile Hunter,” with the late Steve Irwin. So it’s shifting gears in the hopes of jacking up its ratings as it heads into the upfront ad market.

Its new strategy is to build series around the connection people feel with animals with storylines in which the people become as important or more important than the animals.

The network began making tweaks in this direction three years ago with its documentary-soap opera “Meerkat Manor,” but it’s only since February that it began rebranding as an entertainment network about animals, including a new logo.

That’s too recent to get a good sense if ratings are moving up or down. But the changes are worth the gamble, says Animal Planet general manger Marjorie Kaplan.

“Animal Planet is a global brand that’s beloved, and it has virtually universal distribution in the United States, but it doesn’t have the audience it deserves,” she says.

“The idea is to take a step back and say, ‘What are we missing?’ We did a lot of audience research on the shows that do particularly well. What came out of that is that we can be a whole lot more entertaining but in an animal way.”

The network’s identity
Animal is perhaps still best known for “Crocodile Hunter,” whose host died in September 2006 and which made Animal a destination for a lot of viewers.

Today, Animal hopes to become an entertainment channel not unlike Food Network, where it holds onto its niche while pulling in more viewers with a mix of shows, from reality and animation to documentaries and movies.

The network’s target audience
Animal’s target is viewers 18-49 and 25-54, but it’s looking to build up its audience among women in those demos, who are most likely to be drawn to shows with emotional storylines.

The network’s ratings
Animal is a mid-level network with little traction.

It had an average 555,000 viewers in primetime in first quarter, down 1 percent. It was up 9 percent among 18-34s, to 86,000 people, and 4 percent in 18-49s, to 207,000. It was down 2 percent in 25-54s, to 220,000 viewers.

The network’s competitive set
Animal mostly competes with other mid-tier networks with tight niches like Travel Channel and National Geographic Channel.

What’s new for 2008/09
Animal is rolling out plenty of shows that underscore its new direction in humanizing animals, including the fourth season of “Meerkat," a show about a clan of 'kats trying to survive in the Kalahari Desert. Moreover, in new shows like “Escape to Chimp Eden,” the hosts are as much the focus as the animals. “Escape” is coming back next spring.

“Groomer Has It,” which premiered earlier this month, is a reality competition about dog grooming that could air on virtually any general-interest network, although it sticks to the Animal Planet brand.

Upcoming shows include “Dave Salmoni: A Year with Lions,” which debuts next spring, where an animal trainer spends a year in the wild. Also coming next spring is reality show “Jockeys,” while the partly animated “Dark Days in Monkey City” premieres this winter.

The network’s upfront outlook
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent: 3.

Like other networks that have grown about as much as they can with a tight niche, Animal is tweaking its focus to push up ratings. But while it's a logical move, and one that makes a lot of sense, there’s no guarantee it’ll work. And as with any makeover, there's always the risk of turning off core viewers.

And while Kaplan says early ratings are encouraging, media buyers don’t yet have enough information to gauge whether it’s working or not.

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