alebowgm
09-06-04, 01:23 PM
Interesting article today floating around the internet, including financial numbers on how much DTV makes on its 592-598 stations. It was posted over at CBS2 - New York CBS affiliate...
http://cbsnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment_story_249201229.html
In 2002, Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, pulled in $50 million from adult programming. All the nation's top cable operators, from Time Warner to Cablevision, distribute sexually explicit material to their subscribers. But you won't read about it in their annual reports. Same with satellite providers like EchoStar and DirecTV, which is owned by Hughes Technology, a subsidiary of General Motors.
How much does DirecTV make off of adult product?
“They don't break the number out. But I would guess they'd probably get a couple hundred million, maybe as much as $500 million, off of adult entertainment, in a broad sense,” says Dennis McAlpine, a partner in McAlpine Associates, who has tracked the entertainment industry for over two decades. “I would think it's probably more than what their overall profit is. The other areas are losing money. That's making money.”
Then there are the big hotel chains: Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Sheraton and Holiday Inn, which all offer adult films on in-room pay-per-view television systems. And they are purchased by a whopping 50 percent of their guests, accounting for nearly 70 percent of their in-room profits. One hotel owner said, "We have to have it. Our guests demand it.”
One of the largest owners and programmers of in-room pay-per-view is Liberty Media, a publicly traded company run by media mogul John Malone, one of the most powerful people in the communications industry.
McAlpine says that adult entertainment has become a critical part of the entertainment business: “Adult is a major factor in determining the profits of a cable system, an in-house hotel system, a satellite system. It's a big profit contributor.”
So how do these corporations get involved in it?
“I think that they get involved in it because of the profit margins that are involved. One of the things about pornography that's consistently true across the board is that because there's a social stigma still attached to it, you can charge a premium for these materials. And because you can charge a premium for it, the profit margin is higher. So, it makes pure economic sense,” says Fred Lane, a lawyer and author of a book called “Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs Of Pornography In the Cyber Age.”
http://cbsnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment_story_249201229.html
In 2002, Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, pulled in $50 million from adult programming. All the nation's top cable operators, from Time Warner to Cablevision, distribute sexually explicit material to their subscribers. But you won't read about it in their annual reports. Same with satellite providers like EchoStar and DirecTV, which is owned by Hughes Technology, a subsidiary of General Motors.
How much does DirecTV make off of adult product?
“They don't break the number out. But I would guess they'd probably get a couple hundred million, maybe as much as $500 million, off of adult entertainment, in a broad sense,” says Dennis McAlpine, a partner in McAlpine Associates, who has tracked the entertainment industry for over two decades. “I would think it's probably more than what their overall profit is. The other areas are losing money. That's making money.”
Then there are the big hotel chains: Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Sheraton and Holiday Inn, which all offer adult films on in-room pay-per-view television systems. And they are purchased by a whopping 50 percent of their guests, accounting for nearly 70 percent of their in-room profits. One hotel owner said, "We have to have it. Our guests demand it.”
One of the largest owners and programmers of in-room pay-per-view is Liberty Media, a publicly traded company run by media mogul John Malone, one of the most powerful people in the communications industry.
McAlpine says that adult entertainment has become a critical part of the entertainment business: “Adult is a major factor in determining the profits of a cable system, an in-house hotel system, a satellite system. It's a big profit contributor.”
So how do these corporations get involved in it?
“I think that they get involved in it because of the profit margins that are involved. One of the things about pornography that's consistently true across the board is that because there's a social stigma still attached to it, you can charge a premium for these materials. And because you can charge a premium for it, the profit margin is higher. So, it makes pure economic sense,” says Fred Lane, a lawyer and author of a book called “Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs Of Pornography In the Cyber Age.”