Jenna Leads The Way

With the recent news that Jenna Jameson’s studio (now owned by Playboy) Club Jenna will no longer be producing DVDs, effective almost immediately (to be phased out by the end of this year), it sort of leaves one wondering what is really going on. I spoke to a secret industry insider who has been in the adult video game for more than a decade, he gave me some very insightful information. He tells me that adult video on demand has been a long time coming. Here is what else he had to say ….

We started to phase out the sale of VHS in about 2000, and go exclusively DVD. The same movie on DVD, that we once sold on VHS was able to be produced at a $.50 each instead of $1.50. Beyond that, there was also an improvement in the quality of our product so it just didn’t make any sense to continue stocking VHS. It was that same year that everyone began talking seriously about the Internet as a distribution method and some even set goal dates of 2005 to 2010. It was that year that Larry Flynt himself was in Vegas and said something to the effect of, DVD is nice but ADULT VOD is the way of the future. Some idiots laughed him off, sure that DVDs would be around for the next 20 or 30 years. Time would prove Larry Flynt correct.

Club Jenna may be the first major studio (if you can call Club Jenna that) to phase out DVDs but they weren’t the first to think about it or start investing in making it happen. Studios like Vivid would seriously begin looking into distributing their movies through the Internet this same year. Through the Vivid website, a member can watch about 800 of the Vivid titles, for one monthly price.

As Internet retailers report in some cases as much as 90% drops in sales, VOD “theaters” that have begun to pop up like AEBN, you can rent thousands and thousands of movies, including all the titles from major studios like Vivid, wicked Pictures and Digital Playground. Pick the movie you want to watch and download it. No need for a DVD there and no drop in sales either. These sites are reporting record growth, despite the sluggish economy.

Truth is, VOD is coming whether we like it or not. It’s also why you hear rumors like the ones posted at Adult FYI about “secret” meetings by studio heads and other big companies having meetings trying to fix a higher price for current VOD titles. VOD titles may be cheaper to distribute, but movies still cost money to make and larger studios want a bigger cut per sale. So what that means is, right now you may be able to get a movie for $7 through those VOD theater websites, but in the future that same movie may cost you $12, that is if these studio heads get their way.

Who knows. Everything this changing so much right now. It’s crazy and this Club Jenna thing really just pushed things forward faster than most expected. With Club Jenna leading the way other studios will follow suit. It’s al just a matter of time.

DVDs aren’t just out in the porn world either. Mainstream companies like NetFlix and Blockbuster Online are already toying around with VOD distribution models and by all accounts are having great success with them.

When most assumed the next big thing in porno movies would be hi def or bluray, in reality that’s not a market big enough to invest must time in. It’s to niche and expensive for most people. I mean we would all love to be able to afford to pay $70 per movie for the Bluray version, but the reality of the situation is, the economy sucks and people don’t want to pay more for something. If nothing else, we can say that Jenna Jameson may have lead the way for the outing of DVDs, but the economy really is the driving force behind that. People want more porn for less money.

The big question is, with a Internet only distribution model, will studios like Club Jenna still produce quality titles like Jenna Loves Pain 2? Speaking of which, have you seen the movie trailer for Jenna Loves Pain 2? Looks quite interesting. I just so happen to have it for you.