LAS VEGAS, NV – Not so long ago, many adult-entertainment companies were leaning toward Toshiba’s HD DVD format as the direction the industry would take for the next generation of brick-and-mortar distribution. After all, it is less expensive to reproduce high-definition content on HD DVD discs than on Blu-ray discs, the discs and players are less expensive for consumers to acquire, and it’s easier to find HD DVD replicators than it is to track down replicators that work with Blu-ray (which was developed by notoriously proprietary Sony).Based on the number of mainstream studios and technology companies backing HD DVD, many adult content producers predicted HD DVD would be the victor in what the media continues to characterize as a “format war” (although it really has shaped up to be more of a scuffle). Most of Hollywood has announced it will support both formats until consumers indicate a definite preference for one over the other.
However, when mainstream movie giant Warner Bros. in early January announced it would support only Blu-ray technology, the optical-storage landscape began to take on a new complexion. Just as in the videocassette format war of the 1980s, Sony’s product is said to be superior (more content can be crammed onto a disc; the players are more elegant), but in the ’80s price and accessibility led the public to vote with its wallets for the competing VHS format, and Sony’s Betamax eventually disappeared.
Sony appears determined not to lose the market again. It is aggressively pursuing Hollywood and technology companies, but — at least officially — it has declined to make nice with adult. At one point the consumer electronics giant expressly prohibited replication of adult content on its DVDs.
During AVN’s Adult Entertainment Expo last week, representatives from several adult video companies told CNBC their plans to distribute content on HD DVD now are on hold. Pure Play Media, Hustler Video Group, and KBeech Content said the Warner Bros. announcement may cause them to switch to Blu-ray — if they can find a replication house that will work with them.
Blu-ray was slower than HD DVD to get off the starting block, so there are relatively few replicators that are geared up for Blu-ray disc production. (The switch requires a fairly extensive retooling of production facilities.) In addition, because Disney announced an early preference for Blu-ray, many Blu-ray replicators will not or contractually cannot replicate porn DVDs. That leaves adult companies in the uncomfortable position of sending their content to Asia, where it is easier to find reproduction facilities and costs are lower. Hustler Creative Director Drew Rosenfeld told CNBC that’s a dangerous gambit, because putting master copies into the hands of Asian replicators could mean adult entertainment companies would be handing over their movies directly to the pirates to whom the industry already loses billions of dollars annually.
Switching to high-definition video discs at all remains a question in the minds of some adult content producers, although most of them have been shooting in high-def for at least a year. The format is not ideally suited to porn, because it shows every flaw with startling clarity. How many viewers want to see blemishes, “razor bumps,” or stray hairs on their favorite fantasy girls? In addition, it’s much more expensive to produce high-definition discs of any kind than it is to reproduce content on standard-definition units ($5 to $6 per high-def disc vs. about $1 for standard-def), so making the switch would slash dwindling profit margins even further. Several prominent adult content producers have said they believe the DVD retail market has a remaining lifespan of five years at most, and they’re already migrating their distribution efforts to the digital realm. A few small- and mid-sized companies, like Extreme Associates, already have abandoned DVDs altogether in favor of online distribution.
At the same time, companies like Bang Productions and Boys Night Out Entertainment — both of which saw their genesis online — are beginning to make waves in the brick-and-mortar world by distributing their content on DVDs through traditional channels. They say the online market is saturated with adult content, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make a profit in cyberspace.
The format indecision is an unusual state of affairs for an industry many pundits credited with casting the deciding vote in the ’80s and pushing the technology envelope until it screamed during the rise of the Internet Age. Can an industry that became an international economic juggernaut with the ascension of the home-video market regain its footing and once again lead its mainstream brethren into the future with unabashed relish for little more than the thrill of pursuit?
Time will tell, and the world is watching.
