CHATSWORTH, Calif. - New research compiled by AVN shows a 19 percent growth in cable television revenue, a 13.6 percent growth in Internet revenue, and a 15 percent growth in novelty revenue for adult products in 2006. Meanwhile, video sales and rental revenue decreased 15.4 percent, compared to 2005. Overall, the adult industry is worth $12.9 billion, up 2.4 percent from 2005.
“Accurate revenue numbers are hard to come by, because there are so few public companies in the adult industry,” said Paul Fishbein, president and founder of AVN Media Network. “These numbers are, of course, an estimate. Other media outlets have produced higher estimates; however, we’ve culled every source imaginable, and we believe these numbers most closely representative of the adult industry.”
Despite the decrease in overall revenue, video sales and rental still made up the largest slice of the adult industry pie, accounting for $3.6 billion. Internet revenue followed with $2.8 billion, up from $2.5 billion in 2005.
Exotic dance club revenue made up the third largest sector of the industry but remained stagnant at $2 billion.
Novelty revenue outpaced cable revenue ($1.73 billion to $1.55 billion), but cable made the biggest leap in 2006, rising from $1.3 billion in 2005. Novelty revenue rose to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion.
Also on the decline, magazine revenue fell to $950 million in 2006, from $1 billion—a 5-percent decline. The U.S. mobile space accounted for only $39 million in revenue, a 0.3-percent increase over 2005’s $35 million.
Retail store revenue declined almost across the board in 2006, with the only area of growth in novelty sales, which showed a 3-percent increase. Retail store video sales dropped 21 percent to $2.1 billion, from nearly $2.7 billion in 2005.
Also declining is the number of hardcore titles released. In 2006, 12,971 were released, compared with 13,588 in 2005.
While traditional delivery methods are showing signs of decline, the consumption of adult product is up almost everywhere else, signifying a shift toward new media.
“The appetite for sexually explicit material is always going to be there, but delivery methods are changing,” Fishbein said. “Today, consumers have more options to access adult content, and they are taking advantage of them.”
To view the complete industry revenue report, click here.
