I haven’t spoken to the Grand Vizier in ages, but in a recent conversation he lets me know that Jenna Jameson and Tito Ortiz are working on some instructional videos involving his MMA fight deal.
The Grand Vizier points to the potential GameLink acquisition by Private Media and predicts there will be other deals similar to this and a rapid rate of attrition among the adult studios.
“You’re going to see more of this,” predicts The Vizier. “Adult companies will be selling to content companies.”
The Vizier says don’t be surprised if you see Vivid announcing a similar deal within a year.
“If the money’s there, Steve Hirsch will sell it so fast to make your head spin. I think only a few companies will survive the shakedown. And we’ve already seen a number of people just disappear. Gone. No goodbyes.”
“Tube Sites and Free Porn are killing the whole business,” he says. “The industry’s going to hell in a hand basket. The industry right now is bleak and no one knows in what direction it’s going in right now.”
But the Vizier thinks companies like Wicked and Adam & Eve will probably hang in there.
I ask the Vizier how some companies are staying afloat.
“The whole video business is built on the float,” answers the Vizier.
“That never occurred with the web side of the business. Going back ten years those guys were always pre-paying for traffic and advertising. Whereas video companies decided they were going to get in the credit business, extending people the ability to pay 90 days or six months, or whatever. The web doesn’t work that way. The biggest difference is that the Internet ate the video peoples’ lunch. Like the way no one has a VCR? No one’s going to be buying DVD product.”
“Everyone can steal stuff off the Internet,” The Vizier continues.
“It’s all about the set top box and IP TV. It’s all about the Internet and IP TV. Televisions are going to digital and everyone’s being made to have a digital TV. You have the ability of plugging in a set top box. Which means you’ll have access to anything you want. Why would people need to buy a DVD?”
The Vizier says there’s another system owned by VISA which might become popular.
“If you have a card you get an invitation in the mail to pick up a box - the smart remote knows who is using it. All the content is free and with a card you can buy things QVC-style. And they want to buy adult content.”
The Vizier says if you think about it, the recent Max Hardcore and Ray Guhn decisions in Florida may have saved the Valley porn business to some extent.
“Porn Valley was becoming obsolete until those indictments- people aren’t talking about going to Florida like they were,” says The Vizier.
“It was kind of a sick blessing in disguise because it was drying up here. The Feds in Florida are probably going to work their way up to Bang Bros.”
On the subject of the LA Direct lawsuit in which former employee Darby Castellon is suing Derek Hay for back wages, The Vizier thinks the suit reads like a Charles Dickens novel with Hay playing the part of Scrooge.
