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Even porn industry hit by slumping economy

Oracle of Delphi

By Oracle of Delphi
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Oracle of Delphi

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The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation estimates that in an average year the adult entertainment industry — which is headquartered primarily in Southern California — registers total sales of $12.6 billion.

Recently Larry Flynt, head of the Hustler empire, and Joe Francis, the man behind the “Girls Gone Wild” series, requested a $5 billion bailout from Congress.

Is it that bad out there?

The rest of the nation is reeling from a severe economic downturn. Yet the conventional wisdom about the adult entertainment business is that it is recession-proof.

And that thinking is consistent with the behavior of mainstream Hollywood. In times of economic difficulty throughout history — even during the Great Depression — people still found the relatively small sums of money to pay for movies and keep their spirits up.

This time in the adult industry, though, it may be different, partly because of the current conditions and partly because of the drift by consumers toward new options.

“They are definitely struggling,” said Jack Kyser, an economist with the LACEDC. “They are subject to piracy like the mainstream industry is, and that siphons revenue away. Then there are a lot of amateurs in the online industry, which is growing rapidly, and they don’t charge for it.

“The industry is really seeing a change in their business model.”

AVN Media Network, the most prominent overseer of the business, publishes trade publications for the adult entertainment industry and puts on trade shows. Paul Fishbein, chairman of AVN, is entering his 27th year in the business, “and this is the first time I can honestly say the adult business is not recession-proof.”

“Everybody I’m talking to says the business is down anywhere from 20 to 30 percent,” he explained. “That’s in line with the rest of the economy. People in the retail sector are down anywhere from 10 to 40 percent.”

Why buy the cow ...

While the recession has something to do with it, Fishbein said, the availability of cheaply made adult fare online is cutting into the cash flow for traditional outlets and establishments.

“There’s enough free porn on the Internet that, if you don’t care about quality, you can get what you want,” Fishbein said. “Plus the DVD business put out 13,000 new releases last year. That’s just too much.

“There’s too much stuff out there. The economy is bad. And there is a lot of free porn. So it’s a perfect storm that is affecting everybody’s business.”

Yet two of the more notable names in adult entertainment seem to be weathering that tempest at least adequately, for the time being.

Even though Francis joined with Flynt in asking Congress for a handout — whether jokingly, half-jokingly, seriously, or all of the above — he is comforted by the fact that “Girls Gone Wild” is a recognized brand with an ardent following.

“We offer reality product. We don’t do hardcore,” he said. “We’re heavily advertised. There’s a comfort zone in choosing ‘Girls Gone Wild.’ We’re No. 1 in all categories.”

Francis’ operation benefits from the fact that it doesn’t have to pay actresses, or only on rare occasions. Low overhead, more profit. Also, “Girls Gone Wild” can be sold in retail outlets that won’t sell hardcore pornography, another advantage.

What Francis is more upset about than the current economy is the frequent pirating that occurs with his product. “We’re facing what the music business faced a few years ago,” he said. “These sites are stealing our content. We want copyright laws enforced.”

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28737244/

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trinacriabob Veteran

trinacriabob

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I saw "porn industry slumping" and read on.

I was thinking "erections aren't supposed to slump..." :lol:

Oh, yeah, the SoCal part. Most of the filming evidently occurs in warehouses smack in the middle of the banal parts of the San Fernando Valley. I couldn't even believe how many times I may have driven past one of these places within eyeshot of "the 405" and not even had a clue as to what might have been going on there.

Edited by trinacriabob
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ZL-1 Newbie

ZL-1

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Recently Larry Flynt, head of the Hustler empire, and Joe Francis, the man behind the “Girls Gone Wild” series, requested a $5 billion bailout from Congress.

Pardon the foul language but...... wouldn't that bailout be f@#ked up from the start? :smilewide:

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