The era of premium cable pornography has already reached its tastefully shot climax, leaving the sales of on-demand porn and subscriptions to adult channels sadly flaccid now that everyone has figured out that, in the Internet age, it’s silly to pay $14.99 for a film they’re only going to watch for approximately five to 10 minutes, really, unless they have no other plans that night or are going for some sort of personal record. According to this Wall Street Journal article, in which reporters Sam Schechner and Jessica E. Vascellaro liven up an otherwise-dull recitation of quarterly earnings by asking about porn, the migration toward other masturbatory fodder definitely has contributed to an overall loss of revenue for cable, even if they’re “loath” to talk about it. In fact, DirecTV candidly blames “lower adult buys” for its weaker revenues, while Time Warner Cable says it has lost nearly $14 million due to “shrinkage in the adult category,” which, ha ha, “shrinkage.” The lack of porn has contributed greatly to Time Warner’s shrinkage.
Discussing his shrinkage problem, Time Warner’s CEO Glenn Britt acknowledged that, due to the Internet and its vast, endlessly restocked library of free pornography, the trend in cable has been for “adult to go down,” which is also funny, given the context. Anyway, there is a possible solution to stimulate the industry, as suggested by Vivid Entertainment’s Bob Asher: Cheaper porn, more exclusive stuff “such as celebrity sex tapes,” and “unique, interesting content” that doesn’t mirror the factory-pressed porn you find on the Internet. It’s time to bring back the art, in other words, which is what people want from their porn. [via Gawker]