• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 5, 2007

The Internet may be outpacing the growth of many other sources of media content, but it continues to trail a traditional platform - pre-recorded video/DVDs - in both total sales and the rate of growth of adult entertainment. At least that's what AVN Media Network, the operator of adult entertainment news site AVN.com, estimates in a "blue entertainment" market report released Thursday.

The report shows that American consumers are consuming more adult content, and despite the rapid growth of online sources, are actually watching more of it on cable and pay-per-view TV.

The growth of traditional video sources is noteworthy, because the video and DVD market actually experienced severe price cuts during 2006 - no doubt related to competitive pressure from the Internet - but still managed to outpace online sales and growth rates. During 2006, adult video/DVD dales grew 28% to $3.6 billion, which compares with online adult entertainment sales of $2.8 billion, up 22%. Cable and pay-per-view sales rose 13.5% to $1.7 billion.

The mobile adult entertainment market is still relatively miniscule: $39 million, up 0.3% from 2005.

While adult entertainment content isn't normally used by mainstream marketers and agencies, it is a factor in overall consumer use of media. Surprisingly, most mainstream agencies don't track it.

2006 % of Retail Sales $ Retail Sales
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Video Sales & Rentals 28.0% $ 3,622,000,000
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Magazine 7.4% $ 950,000,000
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Cable/PPV (T 13.5% $ 1,745,000,000
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Internet 22.0% $ 2,841,000,000
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Exotic Dance Clubs 15.5% $ 2,000,000,000
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Mobile 0.3% $ 39,000,000
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Novelties 13.3% $ 1,725,000,000
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Total 100% $12,922,000,000