After rough 2013, porn studios look for a better year – CNBC

Jan 14, 2014
Business
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CNBC examines the state of the adult business in the run-up to the 2014 Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas…

2013 couldn’t have gone much worse for the porn industry.

The DVD business, once the lifeblood of adult film producers, dwindled even further. Legal challenges over mandatory condom laws continued to dog the industry. And porn companies were forced to shut down production three times after four performers tested positive for HIV.

As the industry prepares for the Adult Entertainment Expo, its annual trade show in Las Vegas, the question on everyone’s mind is: What does 2014 have in store?

No one’s sure, of course, but some insiders are cautiously optimistic that the worst is over.

“My general impression is the industry has bottomed out,” says Alec Helmy, founder and publisher of trade publication Xbiz. “Companies have figured out how to change their business models to sustain profitability. In terms of the number of players, it’s at an all-time low, but those who have survived are obviously the stronger breed.”

Globally, porn is a $97 billion industry, according to Kassia Wosick, assistant professor of sociology at New Mexico State University. At present, between $10 billion and $12 billion of that comes from the United States. Revenue from traditional porn films has been shrinking, though, because of piracy and an abundance of free content on the Internet.

“DVD sales are barely alive at this point,” says Steven Hirsch, founder of Vivid, one of the industry’s largest and best-known studios. “We’ve seen probably an 80 percent reduction in sales over the past five years—to the point where fairly soon it’s not going to make sense to put movies out on DVD. It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but we are certainly marching towards that day.”

Steven Hirsch

Steven Hirsch

Read more of CNBC’s report on the adult business…

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After rough 2013, porn studios look for a better year – CNBC | AdultWikiMedia
10 years ago

[…] After rough 2013, porn studios look for a better year – CNBC […]

@witega2
10 years ago

After rough 2013, porn studios look for a better year – CNBC http://t.co/fJnuneYBBi via @trpwl

ernestgreene
ernestgreene
10 years ago

I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call myself optimistic, but one good sign is the feeling of panic seems to be subsiding and some rational thought is being given to approaching the industry’s situation in a more innovative way.

SeaKo
SeaKo
10 years ago

“Vivid, one of the industry’s largest and best-known studios”

Yeah in 2013, without the celebrity sextapes and Axel Braun parodies and compilations of old material, how many movies has Vivid produced, better yet, released? Around 17 DVDs….more than half of those are B. Skow’s content that he probably shot in 2012 prior to moving to Girlfriends Films in July of that year…

What about Adam & Eve, whose contract star(s) shot 1 movie in 12 months. Say what?!?! It’s a XXX Toy Store & PR machine only at this point!

F*cking pathetic…

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