Newscast: Puppy cam is back showing new litter born two weeks ago.(Broadcast transcript)

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:

Finally tonight, something on the Web which for dog lovers has the addictive power of a narcotic. That's what's happening right now. They're asleep, but you should see it, when mom comes in, they wake up, it's off the hook. Among fans of webcams, puppy cam is the granddaddy of them all. Actually, more like the grandmother, because when we noticed the San Francisco family had fired up puppy cam again, we knew that meant this was a third litter for mom and something for us to watch, in some cases, for hours at a time. Our report tonight from veteran dog lover Mike Taibbi.

MIKE TAIBBI reporting:

In the two weeks since this litter was born, the number of visitors to the site following the breeding prowess of a Shiba Inu female name Kiko has now topped 27 million. It's a rare breed of Japanese hunting dog. But psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert says that's not what has so many people tuning in.

Mr. JONATHAN ALPERT: It's free. It's calming. It allows us to escape some of the stress of life.

TAIBBI: Kiko's owners are a San Francisco couple who've insisted on remaining anonymous, but when an Internet broadcaster picked up the live feed of Kiko's first litter back in 2008, streaming it worldwide, a phenomenon was born. In that first week, four million viewers in 74 countries spent more than 1.2 million hours watching online.

Context matters, then the economy had just tanked, triggering the great recession. And by the time that first liter was weaned, some 15 million viewers had found a morsel of innocence and optimism in puppy cam.

If you're a fan of animal videos, the Internet age gives you plenty of options: nesting eagles, elephants who paint self-portraits, and any number of other breeds of puppies. But even this adult Shiba Inu can't take her eyes off these particular pups. It's not about money, though someone's marketing greeting cards and calendars, and the pups images have spilled over to other corners of the culture. It's just about these simple images that trigger a simple response. Mike Taibbi, NBC News, New York.

WILLIAMS: Go ahead and try it, but you've been warned.