Is Internet Porn Killing the Adult Industry?

[Cyndalie]

Hard Times for the Porn Industry? , MSNBC

(Summarized below)

The adult film industry is unlikely to be worth as much as it claims—and the Internet that made porn so pervasive is driving a sales slump.

two big stories that emerged from the Adult Entertainment Expo in Sin City last month: 1) the adult film industry is large enough to potentially be the deciding factor in the battle for format dominance between Blu-ray and High Definition (HD)-DVD, and 2) the adult film industry may be in its worst sales slump in recent memory.

Inflated Profits
The reason may well lie in the lack of confirmable information about the porn industry’s true size. These numbers—specifically that the sales and rental of pornographic videos and DVDs are a $3.6 billion industry—have been repeated so often in industry and mainstream news outlets that they have acquired the patina of fact. Throw in cable and satellite television, the Internet, magazines, strip clubs and novelties, and the oft-bandied estimate balloons to nearly $13 billion.

But observers both inside and outside the industry have increasingly been calling that figure into serious question. "It's bogus," says Luke Ford, a lone-wolf industry gossip columnist, former investigative journalist and failed pornographer. "AVN is exaggerating by sevenfold on DVD sales and rentals."

(Oh well, we all know Luke Ford is the most honest guy with the integrity of a professional journalist)

"Everybody lies about their numbers," Paul Fishbein of AVN tells NEWSWEEK. "Almost every year I want to abandon our survey [of the industry]. It's a lot of work for an estimate."

(Yet Fishbein responds that he has "no reason" to mistrust his head researcher.)

These estimates of course don’t account for the elephant in the Web: Internet porn. It’s nearly impossible to get any reliable data on how much people are making online, but anecdotal evidence suggests that it’s much less than the $2.8 billion business AVN makes it out to be.

(Goes on to talk about pirating woes like the music industry is going through, why pay for porn when you can get it free..etc)

“Never has so much porn been released,” writes director/producer James (Jimmy D.) DiGiorgio in an e-mail. “It has become harder and harder for a (newer) manufacturer's product to stand out, and that has resulted in harder and more extreme content being produced. Like many others in the adult industry, I've seen my personal income take a hit as a result of all this ... If the adult industry produces so many billions of dollars, where are the billionaires among its ranks?”

(Talks about Blu-Ray and how with DVD sales down porn will have little effect on the prevalance of BluRay in the long run)

Where is porn driving the bus? “The most profitable area in porn is still the Internet,” says Ford. Despite the flood of free online content, Vivid still derives 30 percent of its roughly $100 million annual income from the Web.
And momentum is building toward services like video-on-demand—both online and through satellite television.

Full Article

[TheLegacy]

you mean there are actually webmasters and owners lying about how much they make?

I find this article very revealing - and true. Can't imagine over the years how many owners/webmasters etc. who on the boards show off that they have all this money, fame and fortune - yet are almost penniless or close to bankruptcy. Not too mention how many posters show off their great cars / cash etc. when in fact they live in their parents basement or a low income apartment and would die of embarrassment should anyone actually find out.

you are never going to get a straight (or gay) answer from the industry as to what is actually going on. Most of the largest programs refuse to admit that their whole company probably survives on about 300 webmasters with the other thousands just fluff not doing shit. One company in my past survived on approximately 60 webmasters/companies for it's business - then had it's pay sites and upsell programs to balance out the rest. The owner drove a Lincoln navigator as did the VP, the remainder bused in, walked or drove cars used or under 30k. Many high profile posters from companies who claimed riches were actually living in one/two bedroom small apartments, catch the bus close to work then walked the rest of the way with no car, always having to hitch rides... and hoping that at industry parties someone else would pick up the tab.

same can be said about how many actual webmasters are there in the industry. Internext gathers a few thousand each year - the webmaster boards have basically the same people posting on each board, just jump around. There are actually many more webmasters who never visit boards or care to. Still there are many who simply post on boards who have nothing to do with the industry but because they really have nothing better to do in life, posting here not only keeps them off the streets, but is as close to talking to celebrities as they will ever get. Hoping to chat with a pornstar, maybe even becoming one themselves - maybe even getting a free pic or two. No one wants to admit that the webmaster boards have shit disturbers who's sole purpose is to be acknowledged or brag to their friends that they know "tons of people" in the adult industry - seemingly making it look as though by associating with us, makes them popular.

I am guessing and personally believe there are likely about 6 to 9 thousand actual webmasters - about 2 thousand are in the gay industry.

[Magnus3x]

"two big stories that emerged from the Adult Entertainment Expo in Sin City last month: 1) the adult film industry is large enough to potentially be the deciding factor in the battle for format dominance between Blu-ray and High Definition (HD)-DVD, and 2) the adult film industry may be in its worst sales slump in recent memory. "

That claim has been refuted with concrete stats proving Porn will not be the deciding factor between the two HD formats.

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by Magnus3x

"two big stories that emerged from the Adult Entertainment Expo in Sin City last month: 1) the adult film industry is large enough to potentially be the deciding factor in the battle for format dominance between Blu-ray and High Definition (HD)-DVD, and 2) the adult film industry may be in its worst sales slump in recent memory. "

That claim has been refuted with concrete stats proving Porn will not be the deciding factor between the two HD formats.

And those would be?

I was in the video business when VHS/Beta WAS decided by porn. That is 100% accurate. I stood behind the counter, handing out the tapes, and selling the VCRs.

I don't know about the reality of how many units are sold, But I do distinctly remember having to purchase extra "Taboo:American Style" tapes when they physically wore out after 470+ turns.
While EVERY Adult Video I made available for rental returned 100% ROI or better, I can't say the same for 90% of non-adult.

[Cyndalie]

Originally Posted by EmporerEJ

And those would be?

I was in the video business when VHS/Beta WAS decided by porn. That is 100% accurate. I stood behind the counter, handing out the tapes, and selling the VCRs.

Given that was well before Internet porn. and the free accessibility of it in your own homes.

What's up EJ!

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by Cyndalie

Given that was well before Internet porn. and the free accessibility of it in your own homes.

What's up EJ!

It was indeed before Internet Porn, but Not before it was freely available in the home per se.
Video Tapes made it pretty well available, and there was MUCH more piracy. In fact, I'd bet the piracy level could offset the the free availability of the internet in this argument.
There was very little stigma to people renting adult tapes from stores like ours.

But that's not really the question on point. I doubt any "statistics" that say porn won't decide, or have a strong influence on, the current format war.
recording of ANY new format is almost always for Porn first.
and since people use their VCRs/DVDs for watching porn much of the time, the availability of porn will first influence the average Joe.
The aficionado will approach it from a technical standpoint, but they fall in the early adopter category.

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by Cyndalie

What's up EJ!

I'm just banging around!