The Fall of the Behemoths

The Financial Times ran an article last week eulogizing the "porn barons"--the handful of huge porn magnates whose empires are crumbling.

Men like Hugh Hefner (Playboy), Larry Flynt (Hustler), Bob Guccione (Penthouse), and Paul Raymond (prominent British porn merchant) have seen steady and precipitous declines in revenues over the past few decades.

While there will always be a place in my heart for gentlemen's magazines, I'm really not sad at all. The products these men created were important in the history of the industry and in cultural sexual development, but in creating large companies around traditional media (namely, magazines), they also limited their ability (or is it willingness?) to innovate.

The porn industry is one of the most innovative, rapidly-changing industries out there, and if you get attached to the old ways, you are at a serious risk of getting left behind. Half-hearted attempts to enter new segments with pay-per-view channels and an online presence aren't enough when you must contend low-cost and highly-agile start-ups in a fiercly competitive marketplace.

What does it mean for the indusry when the giants fall? This could be an excellent opportunity for the next giant to rise. Think about it--the industry is highly fragmented, with small, fast-moving players taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Consumers don't have particular brand loyalty, as these companies bleep in and out of business overnight, and leave in their wake a slew of schizophrenic advertisement-heavy sites where users have no idea what they're getting when they click. This can't go on forever--eventually someone will start buying up the successful companies and will start building a larger brand which can provide enough flexibility in its products to compete with the start-ups. Customers will gravitate towards the brand, since it will be associated with quality and easy-to-locate content. And, contrary to popular belief, people do pay for porn, if it means getting exactly what they want.

The industry is going through a major transition, and the smartest players are going to get very rich.

Comments

[Brian]

Agreed, it is time to shake-up the status quo in the big-name porn players, let's make room for the new innovators and hopefully start showing mainstream media and the public at large how diverse the world of porn actually is, encompassing so many types of people and styles... as a fan and online reviewer of porn, I try to my part but it would be great for the new breed of pornographers to get some of the spotlight.