Even porn industry hit by slumping economy

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation estimates that in an average year the adult entertainment industry — which is headquartered primarily in Southern California — registers total sales of $12.6 billion.

Recently Larry Flynt, head of the Hustler empire, and Joe Francis, the man behind the “Girls Gone Wild” series, requested a $5 billion bailout from Congress.

The rest of the nation is reeling from a severe economic downturn. Yet the conventional wisdom about the adult entertainment business is that it is recession-proof. And that thinking is consistent with the behavior of mainstream Hollywood. In times of economic difficulty throughout history — even during the Great Depression — people still found the relatively small sums of money to pay for movies and keep their spirits up.

This time in the adult industry, though, it may be different, partly because of the current conditions and partly because of the drift by consumers toward new options.

“They are definitely struggling,” said Jack Kyser, an economist with the LACEDC. “They are subject to piracy like the mainstream industry is, and that siphons revenue away. Then there are a lot of amateurs in the online industry, which is growing rapidly, and they don’t charge for it.

“The industry is really seeing a change in their business model.”

(Via MSNBC)