January 10, 2007 | The Biz

Porn trade slows

Lots of things are bigger in porn than in real life: erections are fatter, breasts bustier and, if the actors' faces are any indication, orgasms stronger. But what about profits? The bucks have always been large in adult entertainment, but if you ask experts, the industry's growth is slowing down -- or at least changing direction.

The sex-related entertainment business grew by just 2.4 percent in 2006 to just under $13 billion, according to Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network, in an article that recently ran in the New York Times. That's roughly the rate of inflation and a lower rate than much of the last 20 years, he says.

While reliable numbers are hard to find, the Times points to one corner of the industry, in particular -- porn sold over cable -- as proof that the business is slowing. Market research company JupiterKagan says that over the course of the next decade, porn sold as pay-per-view or on-demand will grow at only half the rate as other paid-for programming on cable; $1.6 million was spent on paid cable last year, and only one-third of that was for porn.

Of course, lagging numbers don't necessarily indicate a drop in porn consumption, according to Steven Hirsch of Vivid Entertainment. He says that while sales of traditional porn -- videos and magazines -- appear to be falling, sex-related entertainment online is still growing. In other words, the porn industry isn't really flagging; it's just changing.

At the moment, Hirsch says, "DVD is going down faster than video-on-demand is ramping up; it is just a lag in technologies."

A future hot spot is porn via cell phones, which has been held back in the US because of tight rules governing telecom companies.

No industry can maintain expotential growth forever. While the American porn biz may no longer be  growing by gangbusters, this is more an indication of the maturation of the sector than anything else: porn is, after all, just like any other industry (only with big, juicy cocks!)

• Indications of a slowdown in sex entertainment trade [CNET News]