Porn Business Is Sagging

Like many businesses, porn has fallen on hard times. Sales of sexy DVDs have dropped drastically, and the porn producers aren't making it up on the internet. Big porn actresses -- most of whom seem to be named Savanna or Savannah - are being paid less to have more sex. Before you jokingly suggest that the government bail out smut, "Hustler's" Larry Flynt was way ahead of you. He and "Girls Gone Wild's" Joe Francis said they were going to ask Congress for $5 billion back in January. Of course, Flynt's motives were purely altruistic. He said, "With all this economic misery and people losing all that money,... it's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

So far, Congress has not responded to the suggestion. In one way, that's surprising. Over and over again, in scandal after scandal, we've seen how important sex is to our Senators and Representatives. Maybe they'd vote for a porn bailout if they could use a phony name, like when they check into a motel with someone they're not supposed to be with. If they voted on it by secret ballot, it would probably pass faster than you can say, "I'm the new delivery boy. Are you home alone, Mrs. Jones?"

Considering that we get so many spam emails about porn, how could the porn industry be losing its shirt... and pants? Almost every day, I'm invited, courtesy of the internet, to watch videos of men and women doing things that I never even thought were possible. It turns out that porn is not a recession proof business. It makes sense that some fans of the genre have decided that their money should go elsewhere these days, even if the videos are shot in High Definition.

And ironically, the internet, that porn-filled swamp, is killing the professional porn industry. People can see all kinds of porn on the internet for free. Much of the sex on the net is allegedly pirated from "legitimate" porn companies. Other offerings are videos that people take of themselves or their friends and then put them on the web. I'm not sure who these people are or why they don't worry about what their grandparents -- or grandchildren -- will think, but there is no shortage of folks who are willing to have video sex. Even if these home videos are not of professional quality, the porn companies can't compete with those who are giving it away for free.

There's also a theory that in recent years, the American attention span has shrunk. We are used to short snippets, rather than long stories. Steven Hirsh, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment says, "On the internet, the average attention span is three to five minutes," not an hour and a half. Even though porn was never known for its compelling storylines, people don't seem to want to have any story with their porn anymore. They just want the sex scenes. In a recent article in the New York Times sex actress Savanna Samson commented on this development, "I used to have dialogue," the frustrated thespian bemoaned. (Or maybe she moaned).

She's not the only porn star who is hurting these days (and not from leather whips). In a recent story in the Los Angeles Times, Savannah Stern (see? Another Savannah) said she has had to replace her Mercedes with a used Chevy Trailblazer. She got the Trailblazer from her parents. It's nice to see them being supportive of their daughter's career choice, isn't it?

So is this the end of porn? Don't bet on it. Porn has been in the vanguard of technology before. Now the sex industry is talking about putting its product on mobile devices. Great -- as if people aren't staring at their IPhones and Blackberrys enough. The theory is that mobile devices are more personal, more intimate than regular computers. People would be able to take them anywhere they want to view porn. But is there actually an audience who will pay to watch adult movies on those itsy-bitsy screens? I guess we'll finally find out if size really doesn't matter.

Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from "Sesame Street" to "Family Ties" to "Home Improvement" to "Frasier." He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at [e-mail].. Check out his website at lloydgarver.com and his podcasts on iTunes.

Comments

[petridish]

I have wondered, women and men get paid to have sex on film. Of course we have to also pay all the people help bring the final product to the retailer (director, producers, cameraman, dvd burner, stage hands so on so forth).

Why is prostitution illegal?

[situationcritical]

So you're trying to tell me that women do porn too?

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

I didn't believe it either.

[WilliamProc]

Porn needs to have a breakthrough from the price point angle.

One porn DVD retails for as much as $60, website fees are just as high, and everyone loves bargains. I love good porn within a $30 price point, but thats rare to find amidst the piles of snore-porn out there. No one wants to pay $60 for a DVD only to get one good scene and seven crappy ones. We just want the good stuff, please and thank you! The freebie sites give folks just that, and for a donation yiou can upgrade to premium services.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

I subscribe to a Netflix-like porn rental service, and they, if you like and want to keep a disc, allow you to buy the used disc they already sent you for SUBSTANTIALLY-discounted prices. One can generally get first-rate, high-quality, used porn from them at 33% to 50% off the retail prices. I haven't paid over $40 for a porn DVD in a long time. Usually under $40.

Of course, they only handle gay porn. But surely there must be similar services for people who want - [gag] - ladies in their porn. (I still can't wrap my head around that idea.) The Netflix business model has been highly successful.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

You all, article and commenters alike, keep talking about porn actresses, women in porn, girls in porn, etc. I don't get it. I have a fairly large library of porn, accumulated over 25 years, on both VHS and DVD, and I have NEVER seen a woman in a porn movie! What an odd, novel idea. Women in porn. It will never catch on. No wonder the industry is in trouble.

No wait. I have seen one woman in a porn movie once. She was the one duct-taped and gagged in a chair, forced to watch her husband have sex with the hunky burglar, and see how he looked finally enjoying sex for the very first time. Fortunately, she was fully dressed.

Females in porn. What will they think of next?

[gfs5541]

Why buy porn when you can get it at these "Porn 2.0" websites that are like "YouTube"? Then you got the economy being crappy.

[aOsO]

I don't see how the porn industry survives free porn on the net. Anyone who spends a dime on porn is not very bright.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Unless, like me, they prefer their porn on thir large TV screens, not on their small computer screens.

[noweknow]

Should "porn stars" be surprised that there are nymphos out there willing to do the same for free? It's also free to post their videos on the net. Nothing beats FREE!

[montecarlo408]

Porn is the most useless thing on earth. I personally get nothing out of it, as the plots are stupid and the "action" is fake and perfomed by people who themselves must have serious problems.

I love sex as much as anyone else, but when someone needs to watch porn to get in the mood, they need to be laying on a psychiatrist's couch instead of a bed.

[Tallulah Morehead - Huffpost Blogger]

Plots? What plots? Oh, you mean that stuff I fast-forward past?

[RobinSeattle]

Dude, I worked in a porn theater in the late 1970's. The "scripts," if you want to call them that, seemed to be written by 14 year olds and the women were beastly. So porn "plaots" have always been a joke. So that the audience doesn't want to sit through such carnivals of inanity and get right to the action (which tends to occur in mostly a tediously predictable and overwrought way) isn't a surprise.

There are two problems with porn right now: one, there is just so much of it on the net that it is tough for one or even just a handful of providers to dominate the market. Two, pro porn is largely unwatchable because it is so fakey. So finding scenes that don't make your eyes just roll up in your head in exasperation is hard (no pun intended) and nobody in their right mind wants to pay for weeding through a mountain of crap t find something hot.

[ECBA88]

Exactly. On the occasion that porn interests me, I don't want to see a bleach blonde, bored-looking actress with fake tits and fake fingernails getting nailed by an equally bored-looking actor with shaved balls and big pecs. Somebody real, actually doing it, is way better.

[Mark Mack]

Not a fat chance. From Kama Sutra to Paris Hilton, Porn will be around for as long as the Roaches, Rats and Pigeons - maybe longer. Funny Post.