The recent merger of two iconic powerhouse production companies in the porn industry, FalconStudios.com and HotHouse.com, is a fiscal move worth watching.

Falcon Studios has been a producer of high-quality entertainment for over 45 years, and Hot House is celebrating its 25th year of giving audiences award-winning content. The companies’ alliance will provide members access to nearly 4,000 steamy videos and scenes on one mega-site, including classics that defined and shaped gay porn, and offer affiliates an expanded venue to their audiences. According to a post on GayDemon.com though, this windfall of content may not be the most noteworthy aspect of this merger.

“[P]erhaps the more shocking news is that condom holdout Hot House is releasing its first bareback DVD called Hot House Sports Network: Exposed… and the debut episode with Roman Todd fucking Aston Spring is available now in the new members area,” Joe Spunk wrote.

What’s the big deal about a porn scene sans condoms?

In an interview by The Independent, Christopher Zeischegg, who performed in both gay and straight productions under the alias Danny Wylde for roughly ten years, says there are different rules about condom use and STI testing in straight porn versus gay. Zeischegg explained to The Independent that most straight porn requires frequent STI testing but no condom use, whereas gay porn requires condoms but no testing. He added that there are exceptions to both these rules.

The adult video production scene had already fought its fair share of battles over this prophylactic conundrum when California introduced Proposition 60 in 2016. If passed, Prop 60 would have allowed the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) to prosecute an enforcement action anytime a condom is not visible in a pornographic film.

Fortunately for the financially-struggling pornography industry, the proposition failed to pass.

In this business, at least in straight porn, condomless scenes sell — or so anecdotal evidence suggest. Viewers want to see scenes that they perceive to be showcasing free and natural renditions of sex, something they may not be able to enjoy themselves. It’s fantasy, pure and simple, and for some condoms ruin that illusion of raw, skin-on-skin contact.

Condom or no condom, sex sells. But if that’s indeed the case, then why the need to merge two top-tier gay porn production companies? In a four-part series, “Porn-o-nomics,” published by CBC Canada, Mike South told Day 6 host Brent Bambury that “adult entertainment isn’t the money-maker it once was.”

South, who’s been in the business for more than two decades, says porn’s movement to the web and the consequent pirating of copyrighted material triggered a financial upheaval which has hit major production companies right in the wallet.

Other industry leaders interviewed in the series go as far as to say tube sites, which stream for free a seemingly endless supply of porn, have inadvertently caused a downturn in revenue for production companies. They also said that this “free-for-all” tube “business model” is likely unsustainable. Regardless of the outcome, paid content will have to focus on high-loyalty, low-volume content that attracts a very loyal viewership to compete.

There is tremendous pressure on the industry, and the most viable current model involves niche content — thus perhaps tapping into Hot House’s release of a bareback selection.

This merger may indeed be a sign of the financial times weighing on the porn industry, but Falcon Studios Group President, Tim Valenti said the combining of the two porn giants is mainly for the betterment of their members.

According to the company’s media release, “The unification of FalconStudios.com and HotHouse.com, two of the biggest and most iconic brands in gay porn is a major milestone for our company. We’re excited to offer our fans the hottest content at a better value by giving them access to an expanded library by merging these celebrated sites into one, and we’re happy to offer affiliates a bigger and better product to promote to their audience.”

This dynamic duo becoming one shows the industries resolve in navigating through the new frontier of adult entertainment, where ingenuity and a smart business model will hopefully win over loyal — and paying — members.

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— Falcon Studios (@FalconStudiosPR) October 2, 2018