From USA Today:
Overall sales and rentals of X-rated DVDs have plunged 15% in the last year and up to 30% over the past two years because video and photos on the Internet – much of it created by amateurs – are available at a fraction of the cost or for free. PornoTube.com and YouPorn.com are piping user-generated naughty content straight to the PCs, cellphones and Internet-connected TVs of consumers. Internet-based porn sales, by contrast, grew 14%, to $2.8 billion, last year.
The exodus to porn viewing online has been accelerated by more broadband users shunning DVDs and pay-per-view TV in favor of PC screens, says Dennis McAlpine, managing director of media researcher McAlpine Associates. Changes in viewing habits have forced industry heavyweights to dramatically alter how they deliver content, he says.
Vivid Entertainment Group, Hustler and Extreme Associates are rushing to offer movies on the Internet before they are available on DVD. Vivid is set to release its first video-only movie in July. And retailers in the shrinking $3.6 billion DVD market, such as HotMovies.com, are beginning to sell video downloads.
